Swamp Witch Blackwater Hattie by Jim Stafford

Swamp Witch (Blackwater Hattie) by Jim Stafford

Tabbed By Glenn Gibson - gibsonglenn@hotmail.com - 06/23/10
Drop D tuning
A fun tune in drop D tuning from the days of Swamp Rock



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

D                    C
Way up the road from Hattie’s Shack
       G                    F   D 
Lies a sleepy little Okeechobe town
D                   C               
Talk of swamp witch Hattie lock you 
G               F  D   
In when the sun go down
D                          G
Rumors of what she’d done, rumors of what she’d do
     D                      C 
Kept folks off the track of Hattie’s shack
       G                 F D  
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
Doctor Jackson was the first to go
Some say the plague was-a brought by Hattie,
there was talk of a hangin’ 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 road run dry
You’d swear 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 sinkin’ 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
Lets thank old Hattie for savin’ our town
Well fetch her from the Black Bayou

Party of ten of the towns 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
Never made the trip back in
There was a parchment note they found tacked to a stump 
Said don’t come lookin’ again


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