"Marie Laveau" is a song written by

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended universit ...

and Baxter Taylor. First recorded by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show on their 1971 album '' Doctor Hook'', a 1974 live recording by

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Early ca ...

went to number one for a single week and spent a total of 18 weeks on the country charts. It was his 34th single on the charts, his only number one and final top ten country hit. The song is about a fictitious and ugly witch who lived in the

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s in a hollow log with a one-eyed

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

and a three-legged

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, having the same name as the famous New Orleans voodoo priestess, and who, armed with a magic

black cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...

tooth and

mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

bone, could make men disappear with a horrific screech. On the night of a new moon, "Handsome Jack" arrives and offers her a deal: if she conjures up $1,000,000 for him, he will marry her. After he receives the money, he backs out of the deal claiming that she is too ugly for a rich man like him; in retaliation, she screeches and Jack disappears. Other recorded versions are by Girl Trouble on their album ''Thrillsphere'' (1990) and The Blue Dogs on ''Music for Dog People'' (1991).

Chart performance

References

1971 songs Bobby Bare songs Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs Songs written by Shel Silverstein 1974 singles RCA Records singles Songs about witches {{1970s-country-song-stub