Intro: Spoken

“Evenin’.

Name’s Harlan Bogtooth.

These sinners behind me are The Mudholler Saints.

This next one’s about the night the swamp opened up

and sent me a woman with fire in her walk,

blackwater on her shoulders,

and trouble smiling right at me.

I thought I’d seen pretty before.

Turns out I’d only been guessing.

This one’s called ‘Swamp Pretty.’

Count it off. One, two, three, four!!"

Verse 1

I was sitting out back by the cypress trees

With a cheap cigar in a midnight breeze

The Saints were loading out, rain coming down

Last call dying in a nowhere town

Then the blackwater stirred by the willow roots

And she rose up slow where the dark ran blue

Had the whole night holding its breath

Had me grinning at trouble and scared half to death

Pre-Chorus 1

She didn’t smile for the crowd to see

She didn’t need no melody

But when that floorboard caught her groove

My friend, you should’ve seen the way she moved

Chorus

Swamp pretty

Moonshine bright

Green-eyed fire in the lantern light

She don’t need diamonds

She don’t need proof

She owns the whole room with the way she moves

Swamp pretty

Wild and sweet

Got the whole place rocking when she found that beat

I don’t know magic

But I know truth

There’s trouble in her smile

And thunder when she moves

Verse 2

She had a scar on her arm and a don’t-care grin

The kind of trouble that invites itself in

Hair all wild from the midnight rain

Came in dragging a hurricane

I said, “Ma’am, you lost?”

She said, “Not tonight”

Then she winked once and the band got tight

Drums hit two and the bass went boom

Every poor fool leaned into the groove

Pre-Chorus 2

She didn’t have to say hello

She had that blackwater in her soul

I said, “That’s the kind of trouble I’d choose”

My friend, you should’ve seen the way she moved

Chorus

Swamp pretty

Moonshine bright

Green-eyed fire in the lantern light

She don’t need diamonds

She don’t need proof

She owns the whole room with the way she moves

Swamp pretty

Wild and sweet

Got the whole place rocking when she found that beat

I don’t know magic

But I know truth

There’s trouble in her smile

And thunder when she moves

Lead Break

Drop D guitar riff, stomp-stomp, cajon slap, low slide guitar humming under the groove.

Bridge

I’ve seen bright lights, I’ve seen barroom blues

Seen smoke dress up and call it truth

But she had something you cannot fake

A wild heart no chain could hold

She said, “You coming, or you gonna stare?”

I said, “Darlin’, I’m already halfway there”

She laughed once, and the room came loose

Swamp pretty, with nothing to prove

Final Chorus

Swamp pretty

Moonshine bright

Green-eyed fire in the lantern light

She don’t need diamonds

She don’t need proof

She owns the whole room with the way she moves

Swamp pretty

Wild and sweet

Got the whole place rocking when she found that beat

I don’t know magic

But I know truth

There’s trouble in her smile

And thunder when she moves

Yeah, thunder when she moves

Outro

Yeah, swamp pretty

Lord, she came right through

Wasn’t what she wore

It was the way she moved

Swamp pretty

Now I’m telling you

Some folks walk in

Some folks move the room

Yeah, some folks walk in

Some folks move the room