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

[Verse 1]
Well the Tennessee River changed its mind
At Chattanooga she oughta unwind
She could a run right on the Georgia Sea
But she cut right back through Tennessee
Well the settlers come by raft and boat
Bringing everything that could stay a float
But like a loco horse that'll twist and buck
They hardly ever made it through the whirl and the suck

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

[Verse 2]
When General Washington was in his knicker bocks
The Cherokee Indians through the Chattanooga Rocks
And the Chickamagua tribe and the Nickajack
They kept the watch where the river cut back
And if a raft or a boat ever rode the bend
The Indians got them because they had them hemmed in
[Chorus]
It took a mighty good man with salty hands
And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the aft
You take ten good men and guts and luck
And you might navigate the whirl and the suck