Where the Hokey Pokey is a Hate Crime

Robert Degen, the man who may have written the Hokey Pokey (the song's origins are disputed) died the other day. The Times, in his obituary, explains why some Catholics are very, very offended by the song:

Some Roman Catholic churchmen, meanwhile, have said that the words "hokey pokey" derive from "hocus pocus" — the Oxford English Dictionary concurs — and that the song was written by 18th-century Puritans to mock the language of the Latin Mass. Last year the Catholic Church in Scotland, concerned that some soccer fans were using the song as a taunt, raised the possibility that singing it should be prosecuted as a hate crime.

Are there any persons more reliably thin-skinned than those who've nursed their "God-given" victim complexes? I don't think so. Exhibit one. Exhibit two. I could go on, you know I could, but instead I'm going to spend a few minutes groovin' to this mad prog-rock classic by Dutch band Focus. I'm sorry if the title offends any Catholics.

Comments

[Hittman]

I love this song, and have several versions of it, but haven't heard this one before, which is even more energetic and shows the band really pushing themselves as far as they can. Thanks!

[Rogier]

Hittman: I had no idea you were such a fan of the Hokey Pokey!

Kidding aside, Jan Akkerman, the guitarist, was a notoriously nervous and often shaky performer, until he got going. Here, he flubs the intro pretty badly, not just by missing some notes but mostly by playing the famous power-rock riff as if his fingers are on fire, easily 20, 30% faster than on the studio recording. It tilts an already challenging-to-play song into a monumental 4-plus-minute hurdle, but all four band members pull off the whole thing with stunning energy and aplomb. It's a crazy-inspired performance. Long live YouTube!

[Hittman]

That's what makes this particular performance so amazing - both the guitarist and vocalist/piano/flute player are right on the very edge of failure, pushing themselves as far as they can go. They are *so* close to screwing up, and they know it, and they keep pushing, riding the razor blade. It's incredible.

[Mike]

And I thought it was the drugs, not any pre-show jitters that had them playing that fast. This is the best version of Hocus Pocus in my book.