G             A     D
I remember the smell of the creosote plant
      E           F#m    Gdim   E7      A        Bm        Cdim  A
when we'd have to eat on Easter with my crazy old uncle and aunt
G               A         D
They lived in a big house  Antebellum style
        G          D               G      D
and the wind would blow across the old bayou
    A                       D
and I was a tranquil little child

Chorus:
     D                Bm
     Life was just a tire swing
                        G             D
     'Jambalaya' was the only song I could sing
     G                    D
     Black-berry pickin', eatin' fried chicken
           G            D           A
     and I never knew a thing about pain
                     Bm
     Life was just a tire swing

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

Bm       G                 F#m              Em           D
And I've never been west of New Orleans nor east of Pensacola
   G                    F#m                   E7        A
My only contact with the outside world was an R.C.A. Victrola
    Bm                                   A
And Elvis would sing and then I'd dream about expensive cars
    E7
and who would've figured twenty years later
       A                 E7              F#m7
I'd be rubbin' shoulders with the stars
                Bm
Life was just a tire swing


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

Last 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