Tabbed By Glenn Gibson 
Drop D tuning
A fun tune in drop D tuning from the days of Swamp Rock



D5                        C5 
Black water Hattie lived back in the swamp
          G5                      D5
Where the strange green reptiles crawl.
D5                          C5
Snakes hang thick from the cypress trees
     G5                       D5
Like sausage on a smokehouse wall.
          D5                     C5
Where the swamp is alive with a thousand eyes
                        G5
An all of them watching you
     D5                C5
Stay off the track to Hatties Shack 
       G5                   D5 
In the back of the Black Bayou

D5                    C5
Way up the road from Hattie?s Shack
       G5                    F5   D5 
Lies a sleepy little Okeechobe town
D5                   C5               
Talk of swamp witch Hattie lock you 
G5               F5  D5   
In when the sun go down
D5                          G5
Rumors of what she?d done, rumors of what she?d do
     D5                      C5 
Kept folks off the track of Hattie?s shack
       G5                 F5 D5  
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