Jim Stafford Swamp Witch lyrics

Swamp Witch by Jim Stafford

Swamp Witch lyrics

Black water Hattie lived back in the swamp 
Where the strange green reptiles crawl 
Snakes hang thick from the cypress trees 
Like sausage on a smokehouse wall 
Where the swamp is alive with a thousand eyes 
An' all of them watching you 
Stay off the track to Hattie's Shack in the back of the Black Bayou 

Way up the road from Hattie's Shack 
Lies a sleepy little Okeechobee town 
Talk of swamp witch Hattie lock you in when the sun go down 
Rumours of what she'd done, rumours of what she'd do 
Kept folks off the track of hattie's shack 
In the back of the Black Bayou 

One day brought the rain and the rain stayed on 
And the swamp water overflowed 
Mosquitoes and the fever grabbed the town like a fist 
Doctor Jackson was the first to go 
Some say the plague wasa brought by Hattie 
There was talk of a hang'n too 
But the talk got shackled by the howls and the cackles 
From the bowels of the Black bayou 

Early one morn 'tween dark and dawn when shadows filled the sky 
There came an unseen caller on a town where hope run dry 
In the square there was found a big black round 
Vat full of gurgling brew 
Whispering sounds as the folk gathered round 
"It came from the Black Bayou" 

There ain't much pride when you're trapped inside 
A slowly sink'n ship 
Scooped up the liquid deep and green 
And the whole town took a sip 
Fever went away and the very next day the skies again were blue 
Let's thank old Hattie for sav'n our town 
We'll fetch her from the Black Bayou 

Party of ten of the town's best men headed for Hattie's Shack 
Said Swamp Witch magic was useful and good 
And they're gonna bring Hattie back 
Never found Hattie and they never found the shack 
And they never made a trip back in 
'Twas a parchment note they found tacked to a stump 
Said don't come look'n again