E  Bm  A

[Verse 1]
 E                 G       A
I'm handcuffed to a fence in Mississippi.
   E                  G              A
My girlfriend blows a boozy good-bye kiss.
      E                    G             A
I see flying squirrels and nightmares of stigmata.
     E            G             A
Then awakening to find my Trans Am gone.
           E              D              B
Still, I'm feeling pretty good about the future.
      E             D               B
Yeah, everything is peaches but the cream.
    E               D        B
I'm handcuffed to a fence in Mississippi,
      Em               E               B
Where things is always better than they seem.

[Chorus 1]
    E    G        A
Say shah ah ah ah ah la la la
Em               G               A
Things is always better than they seem.  *overlap with previous line
E         G    A
Sha la la la la laa
                                  Em   G  A
Things is always better than they seem.  *overlap with previous line

[Verse 2]
        E                G                A
I see the guitar that my cousin played in prison,
                 E             G     A
Floating with the tv in the swimming pool.
     E              G            A
I'm calling for the owner of the motel,
      E                             A
Then noticing the bloodstain on the door.
     E               D               B
I'm reaching for the shoes under the bushes,
       E        D               B
Just in time to hear the sirens sing.
    E               D        Bm
I'm handcuffed to a fence in Mississippi,
      Em                D         B
Where things is always better than they seem.

[Chorus 2]
E         G    A
Sha la la la la la la la
Em                G                A
Things is always better than they seem.
E         G    A
Sha la la la la la la la
                                    Em   G  A
Things is always better than they seem.  *overlap with previous line

[Bridge]
         E
My trans Am is missing
E       Em     D
My trans Am is missing
         B
I guess no more kissing
                     A  E
the girl who loved my car
               G
My trans Am is missing. My trans Am is missing.
          B             A             Em   G  A
There's no more kissing the girl who loved my car

[Verse 3]
         E                G           A
You know freedom's just a stupid superstition,
       E                                A
'cause life's a highway that you travel blind.
               E              G            A
It's true that having fun's a terminal addiction.
             E                    G               A
What good is happiness, when it's just a state of mind?
           E           D       B
For in the prison of perpetual emotion,
          E                B                B
We're all shackled to the millstone of our dreams.
         E               D            B
Me, I'm handcuffed to a fence in Mississippi,
       E               D            B
Where things is always better than they seem.

[Chorus 3]
E         G    A
Sha la la la la la la la
Em               G                A
Things is always better than they seem. *overlap with previous line
E         G    A
Sha la la la la la la la
Em               G                A
Things is always better than they seem. *overlap with previous line
E         G    A
Sha la la la la la la la
Em               G                A
Things is always better than they seem... seem... seem... seem.

[Outro]
E  G  E7  E  B  Bm  G
(Clapping and plucking)