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[/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////]// Mike A. Hall // "If I don't die by Thursday, //
// // --J.Buffett //
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(Words and Music by Jimmy Buffett (c) 1974)
Intro: Bm
I[G] remember the [A]smell [D]of the creosote plant,
when w[E]e'd have to [F#m]eat on [Gdim]Easter [E7]with my [A]crazy old[Bm] uncle and[Cdim] aunt.[A]
[G]They lived in a [A]big house [D] Antebellum style,
and the [G]wind would [D]blow across the [G]old bay[D]ou,
and [A]I was a tranquil little [D]child.
Chorus:
[D]Life was just a t[Bm]ire swing.
'Jambalaya' was the[G] only song I c[D]ould sing.
[G]Black-berry pickin', [D]eatin' fried chicken,
and I [G]never knew a [D]thing about [A]pain;
Life was just a [Bm]tire swing.
2.
In a few summers my folks packed me off to camp;
yeah, me and my cousin' Baxter in our pup tent with a lamp.
And in a few days Baxter went home, and he left me by myself.
And I knew that I'd stay, it was better that way,
and I could get along without any help.
(2nd chorus)
Life was just a tire swing.
'Jambalaya' was the only song I could sing.
Chasin' after sparrows with rubber-tipped arrows,
knowin' I could never hurt a thing,
and life was just a tire swing.
(then continue)
[Bm]And I've [G]never been west of[F#m] New Orleans nor [Em]east of Pensa[D]cola.
My [G]only contact with the[F#m] outside world was an [E7]R.C.A. Vic[A]trola.
And [Bm]Elvis would sing and then I'd dream a[A]bout expensive cars,
and [E7]who would've figured twenty years later
I'd be [A]rubbin' shoulders [E7]with the stars.[F#m7]
Life was just a [Bm]tire swing.
3.
Then the other morning on some Illinois road
I fell asleep at the wheel,
But was quickly wakened up by a 'Ma Bell' telephone pole,
and a bunch of Grant Wood faces screaming 'Is he still alive?',
But through the window I could see it hangin' from a tree,
and I knew that I had survived.
(3rd chorus)
Life was just a tire swing.
'Jambalaya's still the best song that I sing.
Black-berry pickin', eatin' fried chicken,
and I finally learned a lot about pain,
'cause life is just a tire swing.
Life was just a tire swing.
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Chord chart:
F#m - |xx3222| F#m7 - |xx2222| Gdim - |xx2323| E7 - |o2o1oo|
Bm - |xxo432| Cdim - |xx1212| Em7 - |o2oooo| Em - |o22ooo|
(This song is published in the book "The Songs of Jimmy Buffett"
by CPP/Belwin Music Company.)
