Every great now and then, you come across a story, or a song, that truly sparks something in a child’s imagination. Something that starts you wondering about life, and the things in it, and all the mysteries that lie all around.
I remember when I was just six years old. My father owned a skating rink and listening to the song the Legend of the Wooley Swamp by the Charlie Daniel Band. I first heard it was the dark of night and I was in the record booth in the rink, one of Dad’s employees told me to listen to the song, it had just come out on a 45. I was 6, and the record booth was really dark.
There, sitting in the floor of the booth, with my skates still on, I listened to the song. Following the song, the employee turned to me and said, “Does that scare you?”
“Yeah, is it real?”
“I don’t know...,” he replied with a chuckle. From that day forward the song would always be remembered any time I thought of something creepy. I never really thought about it directly until I was playing SongPop the other day, and it was an answer to a question, but not THE answer. Suddenly the memory came flooding back, I had slight chills, and had to go digging.
I found it on YouTube, as you can see, and watched the video through, and the minor chills turned into full on chills, as I remembered sitting in that dark booth, wondering about some old guy in the swamp, and what he’d do to me if I looked at his money the wrong way.... My mind raced, thinking about if the story was based off anything, if there really was some haunted swamp out there....
I instantly brought Dan and my daughter into the living room and played them the song. My daughter was thoroughly unimpressed, but Dan akined the story to a good campfire tale. I, sadly, have never gotten to really experience a campfire tale, but I have to wonder if that’s what it feels like. A spooky location, a spooky tale, and an imagination running wild.
Honestly, I’m into paranormal stuff, and Dan asked me if that was the first real story that got me thinking about it, and I suppose it truly was. We watch Dead Files on a regular basis, and some other paranormal shows from time to time, and it’s a fun topic. I truly wish I could go on some kind of ghost hunt, but I doubt I would be brave enough to go into Wooley Swamp....
So what do you think of campfire stories? Are they good fun that get the imagination rolling, or just a good way to scare someone? What do you think about the song? What about ghosts and such, everyone seems to have an opinion on them, what’s yours? Have you ever had a story or song that has sparked your imagination, and created a life long pursuit of some strange mystery?
