Am C Am
C F C
F C F C
Am C Am

C G Am F
C F Am C

[Verse 1]
     Am              C              Am
Come listen and I’ll tell a tale of hardy canyoneers
     C                F              C
That breed of men the river rats who live without the fears
   F          C               F                C
Of common ordinary men whose worries sure are small
   Am                  C                  Am
Compared to those who flirt with death within that high grey wall

[Chorus]
C                  G                        Am              F
What’s in a man to make him thirst for the kind of life he knows is cursed?
      C            F              Am         C
He’ll die a lonely river rat, foolhardy canyoneer

[Instrumental]
Am C Am
C F C
F C F C
Am C Am

[Verse 2]
       Am          C                  Am
Do you ever wonder what you’d do when all the chips were down
       C                     F                 C
If you doubt you’d do what a man would do when danger comes around
      F               C                 F               C
Then take the test to prove the case to see if courage calls
    Am                C                   Am
As waves leap thirty feet or more on the trip through Lava Falls

[Chorus]
C                  G                        Am              F
What’s in a man to make him thirst for the kind of life he knows is cursed?
      C            F              Am         C
He’ll die a lonely river rat, foolhardy canyoneer

[Instrumental]
Am C Am
C F C
F C F C
Am C Am

[Verse 3]
   Am                  C              Am
At night at rest on a rocky beach he hears a hairy sigh
        C             F                   C
Of the lonely phantom of the gorge whose mournful voices cry
  F                  C               F                  C
Although we ran the rapids wild and with our lives did pay
    Am               C              Am
We welcome you, you canyoneers, who come this dismal way

[Chorus]
C                  G                        Am              F
What’s in a man to make him thirst for the kind of life he knows is cursed?
      C            F              Am         C
He’ll die a lonely river rat, foolhardy canyoneer

[Outro]
C G Am F
C F Am C

C G Am F
C F C F C F Am