Sing Doo Wah Diddy / Mr Mojo Risin

Tonight, I watched "LA Story", a silly little Steve Martin movie. Actually it was funny. A lot of slapstick sight gags like you find in Airplane, layered into a romantic comedy.

In the movie, there is a light up billboard that talks to Steve Martin's character, nudging him toward finding true love. In one scene, the billboard poses a riddle for Martin: "How is Daddy doing?"

The answer is finally given near the end of the film. Amid phrases of Manfred Mann's version of Doo Wah Diddy, the heroine of the story shuffles the letters in "How is Daddy doing" to get "Sing doo wah diddy". Clever. Meaningless, as the billboard is quick to concede. But still clever.

That reminded me of another rock anagram. In the song "LA Woman" by the Doors, there is an enigmatic line repeated again and again:

Mr. Mojo Risin', Mr. Mojo Risin'
Mr. Mojo Risin', Mr. Mojo Risin'
Got to keep on risin'
Mr. Mojo Risin', Mr. Mojo Risin'

What does this mean?  Well... "mojo" of course means sexual power. Right?  Well, I read an interesting article that gave various other definitions of this slang term.

But, assuming that mojo means virility, then Mr. Mojo must be a euphemism for "little willy", and him rising, is, well, you know, little willy standing up.

But really, it's just another anagram. Re-arrange the letters of "Mr mojo risin", and you will find "Jim Morrison". I'm sure Morrison thought the use of the word "mojo" in his pseudonym was pretty cool. It is. I wish I could find mojo in my name.

Wait... I can. John Seymour is an anagram for "Yes, U R mojo, nh"   Ok... dunno what to do with the leftover "nh". So, I'm not as cool as Jim Morrison.

But... here is something you won't find anywhere else on the internet. "LA Story" and "LA Woman" both contain anagrams having to do with rock music. That's cool. I wonder if Steve Martin knew that?