A
It took a mighty good man with salty hands
         E
And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the aft
                           A
You take ten good men and guts and luck
          E                  A
And you might navigate the whirl and the suck

              A                                                  E 
Well, the Tennessee River changed its mind At Chattanooga she oughta unwind
      A
She could a run right on the Georgia Sea
                                  E
But she cut right back through Tennessee
       A                   
Well, the settlers come by raft
                                          E
And boat bringin' everything that could stay a float
      A
But like a loco horse that'll twist and buck
                                       E            A
They hardly ever made it through the whirl and the suck

A
It took a mighty good man with salty hands
         E
And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the aft
                           A
You take ten good men and guts and luck
          E                  A
And you might navigate the whirl and the suck
             A
General Washington was in his knicker bocks
                                      E
The Cherokee Indians through the Chattanooga Rocks
             A
And the Chickamagua tribe and the Nickajack
                                E         A
They kept the watch where the river cut back
                               A
And if a raft or a boat ever rode the bend
                                E              A
The Indians got 'em cause they had 'em hemmed in
A
It took a mighty good man with salty hands
         E
And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the aft
                           A
You take ten good men and guts and luck
          E                  A
And you might navigate the whirl and the suck