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Song title---"Swamp Witch" aka "Here The Snakes Hang Thick From The Cypress Trees Like Sausage On A Smokehouse Wall"

Posted by Bruce Kahl on January 30, 2004

In Reply to: Searching for song title posted by ESC on January 29, 2004

: There was an song about people who brought a witch into the community because, they reasoned, "swamp magic is useful and good." It was a mistake.

: Does anyone know the title? I have googled without success.

Jim Stafford: "Swamp Witch" aka "Here The Snakes Hang Thick From The Cypress Trees Like Sausage On A Smokehouse Wall"
Jim Stafford, 1973

Blackwater Hattie lived back in the swamps, where the strange green reptiles crawl,

Where the snakes hang thick from the cypress trees, like sausage on a smokehouse wall

Where the swamp is alive with 1000 eyes, and all of 'em watchin' you;

Stay off the track of Hattie's shack, in the back of the Black Bayou.

Way up the road from Hattie's shack, lies a sleep little bayou town;

Talk of swamp witch Hattie will lock you in when the sun goes down;

Rumours of what she'd done and 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;

Skeeters and the fever grabbed the town like a fist; Doc Jackson was the first to go;

Some said the plague was brought by Hattie - there was talk of a hangin' too;

But the talk got shackled by the howls and the cackles from the back 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 had run dry;

In the square there was found a big black round vat full of gurglin' brew

Whisperin' sounds as the folks gathered round - "It came from the Black Bayou".

There ain't much pride when you're trapped inside a slowly sinking ship;

They 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 ol' Hattie for saving 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 is useful and good, and we're gonna bring Hattie back";

Never found Hattie, never found the shack, and they never made a trip back in;

Cuz a parchment note they found tacked to a stump said "Don't come lookin' again!"

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