10 Immersive Songs That Would Make Killer Movies

9. The Legend Of Wooley Swamp - The Charlie Daniels Band

http://youtu.be/qMz4MA2X-98 Our second song is another ghost story, but it's grittier than "Laurie." It's arguable that nobody in recent years has produced more wonderful story songs than The Charlie Daniels Band. I've been a fan of Daniels and his band ever since I first heard "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," and since then, every other song I've heard by the group has only increased my love. I knew that I had to include one Charlie Daniels song on this list, but it was murder choosing which one. Ultimately, my debate came down between two songs: "Uneasy Rider" and our song in question. I ultimately came down in "Legend"'s favor, however, because, while "Uneasy Rider" is one of the funniest songs ever recorded, it doesn't have enough story to sustain a film. "The Legend Of Wooley Swamp," however, provides us with a structure for a feature-length film plot, even if it would need a little filling out. The song's story revolves around the Cable boys, a group of juvenile delinquents who descend into Wooley Swamp to murder Lucius Clay, an old man who hates everything but his money, which he stuffs in mason jars and buries, only to dig it up in the middle of the night and roll around in it. The Cable boys arrive at Clay's shack, finding Lucius revelling in his money. The boys beat Lucius to death, throw him in the swamp, take the money, and run. However the path that the boys took into the swamp has turned to quicksand. The boys sink as the sound of Lucius' laugh fills the swamp.

Taken by itself, the story you read above wouldn't be enough to fill a film. The chorus, however, hints that there's more to the song than what we hear. Daniels sings about hearing the legend of Wooley Swamp, but he also sings,

"But I couldn't believe it. I just had to find out for myself. And I couldn't conceive it 'Cause I never would have listened to nobody else. And I couldn't believe it. I just had to find out for myself."

In other words, the singer is planning to visit Wooley Swamp himself, to find out if the legend that Lucius Clay haunts the swamp is true.

The chorus' implied story completes a feature-length film structure. The first act could set up the story, with the singer and a bunch of other kids being told ghost stories. The second act would consist of a story-within-a-story, with us watching the story of the Cable boys' and Lucius Clay's death while the ghost story-teller provides voice-over. The third act would be the singer and his friends descending into the swamp, determined to prove the legend false and finding that it's true.