Am C G [Verse] Am We lived in Paia C G Hippie central, I could hop to the beach Am Sometimes we would hitchike C G Miles to school, school being a figure of speech A Where we sang (kahuli aku, kahuli mai) [Verse] Am We lived on a zendo C G In the forest, silence for days on end Am Caught up on my reading C G Huckleberry Finn was my only friend [Chorus] Am F It could have been paradise C D7 But for the horrible bugs Am F I could have gone to a real school C G But for the murderous thugs Am F In the forest of paradise C D7 We gathered magic mushrooms Am F But mostly I sat around C G In rooms as quiet as tombs It was heaven [Verse] Am My mother then took up with C G A trumpeter, red beard and pork pie hat Am Found a lyric of mine C G He took it home and set music to that Am To impress my mother C G He stole my song. Better back off, mister Am Fast forward two decades C G Same thing happened but with Shakespeare's sister [Chorus] Am F Why should it be paradise? C D7 That's just a place people go Am F It was home for a little while C G But you can give me the snow Give me the snow [Verse] Am My friend Shell was named for C G A shell on the beach. She spoke pidgin English Am Everyday I swam out C G Onto the reef, catching exotic fish [Chorus] Am F It could have been paradise C D7 With one good reason to stay Am F If it had been paradise C G Guess we'd still be there today