Intro:   Bm 
         
 G             A     D  
I remember the smell of the creosote plant 
      E           F#m    G°   E7      A        Bm        C°  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    
 

     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