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