The Legend of Wooley Swamp

The Legend of Wooley Swamp is a country song written and performed by The Charlie Daniels Band. Released in 1980 from their Full Moon album, the song itself did not do well on the country charts (reaching only #80) but surprisingly did better on the pop charts (reaching #31). However, it has become a popular song for the band at its concerts.

The song is told in first person narrative of one who heard a legend but had to verify it for himself, proving it to be true and that "some things in this world, you just can't explain". He then tells of the legend: 50 years prior, Lucius Clay (a reclusive miser who buried his money in Mason jars around his property, and who during full moons would dig it up and run his fingers through it) was robbed and murdered by the Cable boys (three "white trash" brothers). But as the Cable boys attempted to get away, they found themselves mired in quicksand, and ultimately drowned, but before doing so the voice of Clay laughed "loud as thunder". To this day, behind Clay's shack a piece of ground is perpetually wet, and on a full moon "you can hear three young men screamin'" while "you can hear one old man laugh".