Hocus Pocus (song)

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"Hocus Pocus" is a 1971 instrumental song from Moving Waves, the second album by Dutch rock group Focus. It was written by guitarist Jan Akkerman and flautist/keyboardist Thijs van Leer.

There are no lyrics to the song. It consists of alternation between a powerful rock chord riff and varied solo "verses" (in the original all performed by Thijs van Leer) which include yodeling, organ playing, gibberish lyrics, flute riffs and whistling. Focus recorded a special, faster radio version, which became a hit song. When performing live, the group would play the song even faster.

Hocus Pocus reached #20 in the UK and #9 in the US during the spring of 1973.

Power metal band Helloween included a cover of the song in their 1999 album Metal Jukebox, and Iron Maiden covered it for their 2006 single "Different World". Rock guitarist Gary Hoey released several instrumental renditions of this song on various albums. The pop/classical artist Vanessa-Mae did a cover with violin on her 1997 album Storm. Iron Maiden covered it on the European DVD version of their Different World single. Punk band The Vandals also covered Hocus Pocus on their second album, When in Rome Do as the Vandals. A cover version of the song performed by British band Marillion appears on the live album Friends, released in 2007.

The final bars of the song are used as the outro music on the second series of the BBC TV sitcom Saxondale.^{[citation needed]}

Several sections of Hocus Pocus, including the yodeling, falsetto, gibberish lyrics, and rock guitar riff sections, are used in McDonald's television commercials that explicitly point viewers to linerider.com.