The loose and infectious melody of “Hey Pocky A-Way” has been covered and re-recorded many times since its first release in 1974 by New Orleans funk heavyweights The Meters. The highly recognizable chorus–which reputedly stems from early Native American dialects in the region that would come to cradle New Orleans–has lost most of its linguistic meaning, but none of its emotional acuity. Later, The Grateful Dead’s cover of the song popularized it further, even as members of The Meters went on to join the famous soul group, The Neville Brothers.
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