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The Swimming Song by Loudon Wainwright III
The Swimming Song
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: 2nd fret
G
This summer I went swimming
Dsus2 Em
THis summer I might have drowned
C
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
Dsus2 Em
And I moved my arms around.
D7 G
I moved my arms around.
This summer I swam in the ocean
Swam in the swimming pool
Salt in my wounds, chlorine in my eyes,
I'm a self-destructive fool,
Self-destructive fool.
[Break]
This summer I did the backstroke,
And you know that thats not all.
I did the breast stroke and the butterfly,
And the old Australian crawl,
The old Australian crawl.
This summer I swam in a public place and a reservoir to boot,
At the latter I was informal,
At the former I wore my suit,
I wore my swimming suit.
[Break]
This summer I did swan dives and
Jack knives for you all.
And once when you weren't looking
I did a cannonball
I did a cannonball.
This summer I went swimming
THis summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around.
I moved my arms around.
------------------
version 2
Tuning: E A D G B E
G-C-G
This summer I went swimming,
D-Dsus4-Em-Em7-Em
This summer I might have drowned
Em- C-Cadd9-C
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
D-Dsus4-D Em-Em7-Em
And I moved my arms around,
D-Dsus4-D G
I moved my arms around.
This summer I swam in the ocean,
And I swam in a swimming pool,
Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes,
I'm a self-destructive fool, a self-destructive fool.
This summer I swam in a public place
And a reservoir, to boot,
At the latter I was informal,
At the former I wore my suit, I wore my swimming suit.
This summer I did the backstroke
And you know that's not all
I did the breast stroke and the butterfly
And the old Australian crawl, the old Australian crawl.
This summer I did swan dives
And jackknifes for you all
And once when you weren't looking
I did a cannonball, I did a cannonball.
------------------
version 3
Tuning: E A D G B E
To play the main hook of the song, start by strumming a standard A chord (x0222x) and immediately
hammering onto the 5th fret of the B string (probably using your pinky). Then you walk back down to the
standard fingering: x0222x -> x0225x -> x0223x -> x0222x). Listen to the song to get the feel
of the melodic line throughout the hook.
Some specific chord voicings you will need:
A F#m F#m7 E6 D6
x0225x 244222 242222 022120 xx0432
Intro: A A E6 F#m F#m7 D6 E F#m E A
A E E6 F#m
This summer I went swimming, this summer I might have drowned
F#m7 F#m D6 D E E6 F#m
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet, and I moved my arms a-round.
E E6 A
I moved my arms a-round.
A E E6 F#m
This summer I swam in the ocean, and I swam in a swimming pool
F#m7 F#m D6 D E E6 F#m
Salt in my wounds, chlor-ine in my eyes, I'm a self-de-structive fool,
E E6 A
A self-de-structive fool.
Solo/Interlude: A A E6 F#m F#m7 D6 E F#m E A
A E E6 F#m
This summer I did the backstroke, and you know that thats not all.
F#m7 F#m D6 D E E6 F#m
I did the breast stroke and the butter-fly, and the old Au-stralian crawl,
E E6 A
The old Au-stralian crawl.
A E E6 F#m
This summer I swam in a public place and a reser-voir to boot,
F#m7 F#m D6 D E E6 F#m
At the latter I was in-formal, at the former I wore my suit,
E E6 A
I wore my swimming suit.
Solo/Interlude: A A E6 F#m F#m7 D6 E F#m E A
A E E6 F#m
This summer I did swan dives, and jackknives for you all.
F#m7 F#m D6 D E E6 F#m
And once when you weren't looking, I did a cannon-ball
E E6 A
I did a cannon-ball.
A E E6 F#m
This summer I went swimming, this summer I might have drowned
F#m7 F#m D6 D E E6 F#m
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet, and I moved my arms a-round.
E E6 A
I moved my arms a-round.
------------------
version 4
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: 2nd fret
Key: G
I play the Dadd9 as a Dadd9/11 which is fingered like a C but two frets up.
So you just slide your hand up after the C.
[Verse 1]
G
This summer I went swimming
D Em
This summer I might have drowned
C Em
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
C Dadd9 Em
And I moved my arms around
C Dadd9 G
I moved my arms around
[Verse 2]
G
This summer I swam in the ocean
D Em
And I swam in a swimming pool
C Em
Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes
C Dadd9 Em
I'm a self-destructive fool
C Dadd9 G
I'm a self-destructive fool
[Verse 3]
G
This summer I swam in a public place
D Em
And a reservoir, to boot
C Em
At the latter I was informal
C Dadd9 Em
At the former I wore my suit
C Dadd9 G
I wore my swimming suit
[Verse 4]
G
This summer I did the backstroke
D Em
And you know that that's not all
C Em
I did the breast stroke and the butterfly
C Dadd9 Em
And the old Australian crawl
C Dadd9 G
The old Australian crawl
[Verse 5]
G
This summer I did swan dives
D Em
And jackknifes for you all
C Em
And once when you weren't looking
C Dadd9 Em
I did a cannonball
C Dadd9 G
I did a cannonball
[Verse 6]
G
This summer I went swimming
D Em
This summer I might have drowned
C Em
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
C Dadd9 Em
And I moved my arms around
C Dadd9 G
I moved my arms around
------------------
version 5
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: 2nd fret
p = pull off
h = hammer on
Intro:
e|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--3--1--1p0-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------2--0----0h2-2h4--2-0---------0--0h2--0--0h2-2h4-2-0---0h2-2h4--2--0----|
D|--------------------------------2---0h2------------------------2----------------0-|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
The rest of the song is repeated form this:
e|--3--3--3--3-0-0-----0h2-2-2-0-----------------------0h2-2-2-0------0h2-2-2--3-3-3-|
B|--3--3--3--3-3-3-----3---3-3-3----------------0h1-1--3---3-3-3------3---3-3--3-3-3-|
G|---------------------2---2-2-2-----------------------2---2-2-2------2---2-2--------|
D|--------------------------------2-2---0h2-2---2---2------------2-2-----------------|
A|--2--2--2--2-2-2----------------2-2---0h2-2---0h3-3------------2-2-----------2-2-2-|
E|--3--3--3--3-3-3-------------------------------------------------------------3-3-3-|
This summer I went swimming
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around
Moved my arms around
This summer I swam in the ocean
And I swam in a swimming pool
Salt my wounds, chlorined my eyes
I'm a self destructive fool
I'm a self destructive fool
This summer I did the back stroke
And you know that that's not all
I did the breast stroke and the butterfly
And the old Australian crawl
The old Australian crawl
This summer I swam in a public place
And a reservoir to boot
At the latter I was informal
At the former I wore my suit
I wore my swimming suit, yeah
This summer I did swan dives
And jack knives for you all
And once when you weren't looking
I did a cannonball
Did a cannonball
This summer I went swimming
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around
Moved my arms around
Hey!
--------------