It took a mighty good man with salty hands   And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the act   You take ten good men and guts and luck   And you might navigate the whirl and the suck      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 bringin' 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      It took a mighty good man with salty hands   And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the act   You take ten good men and guts and luck   And you might navigate the whirl and the suck      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 'em cause they had 'em hemmed in      It took a mighty good man with salty hands   And a mighty long raft to keep the fore before the act   You take ten good men and guts and luck   And you might navigate the whirl and the suck