| "Marie Laveau" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBobby Bare | ||||
| from the album Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies | ||||
| B-side | "The Mermaid" | |||
| Released | April 1974 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:09 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Shel Silverstein, Baxter Taylor | |||
| Producer(s) | Bobby Bare | |||
| Bobby Bare singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Marie Laveau" is a song written byShel Silverstein and Baxter Taylor. First recorded byDr. Hook & the Medicine Show on their 1971 albumDoctor Hook, a 1974 live recording byBobby Bare 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-10 country hit.[1]
The song is about a fictitious and ugly witch who lived in theLouisianabayous in a hollow log with a one-eyedsnake and a three-leggeddog, having the same name asthe famous New Orleans voodoo priestess, and who, armed with a magicblack cat tooth andmojo 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. The song concludes with the singer cautioning any listening man that should he ever encounter Marie and receive an offer of marriage, to accept it and live with her in the swamp for the rest of his life, or run the risk of being vanished.
Other recorded versions are byGirl Trouble on their albumThrillsphere (1990) andThe Blue Dogs onMusic for Dog People (1991).
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S.Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| CanadianRPM Country Tracks | 1 |
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