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Hocus Pocus is het bekendste nummer van de Nederlandse band Focus. Het werd voor het eerst uitgebracht in 1971 als single, met het nummer Janis op de B-kant. De single-versie duurt 3:17", de albumversie 6:43". Het album waarop dit nummer terug te vinden is, Focus II, bereikte eind 1971 de 5e plaats in de Nederlandse LP Top 20. Twee jaar later werd dit album speciaal voor de Amerikaanse markt uitgebracht als Moving Waves.

Er zit geen betekenis achter de titel van het nummer: de titel is gekozen omdat het rijmt op Focus.

"Hocus Pocus" is a song by the Dutch rock band Focus, written by keyboardist, flutist, and vocalist Thijs van Leer and guitarist Jan Akkerman. It was recorded and released in 1971 as the opening track of their second studio album Moving Waves. An edited version was released as a single (with "Janis" as the B-side) on the Imperial, Polydor and Blue Horizon labels in Europe in 1971, but failed to chart outside of the Netherlands (NL No. 9).

Buoyed by a live performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test in December 1972 and a subsequent British club tour, the song rose to No. 20 on the UK singles chart in late January 1973.

In the US and Canada, the song was released as a single on the Sire Records label in 1973. A different recording, a faster version of the song, entitled "Hocus Pocus 2" or "Hocus Pocus II", appeared on the B-side of the original single edit in these territories. It was not available outside the US until Sire Records in 1975 released the compilation album Dutch Masters (1969–73), and it was later added as a bonus track on the CD release of the 1976 compilation album Ship of Memories, where the producer, Mike Vernon, also mentions it in his booklet notes as the US single version.

In the US, the song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box Top 100.

The song was given new life in the new millennium, when it became the musical signature of the Nike "Write the Future" advertising campaign, shown during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. That year the single re-entered the UK charts at No. 57 and on the Dutch charts at No. 48.

In 1984 the song was covered by California based punk band The Vandals on their When in Rome Do as The Vandals album.

In 1997 the song was covered by British violinist Vanessa Mae on her album Storm (Vanessa-Mae album).

In 1999 the song was covered by German heavy metal band Helloween and released on their Metal Jukebox album.

In 2006 Hocus Pocus was covered by Iron Maiden as a B-side on their European DVD single "Different World".