let s go to louisiana boys way down in louisiana where the moss and cypress grew you d find old jack in a shotgun shack in the back of the black bayou some folks called him crazy but i knew better than that he kept a hundred dollar bill tucked away in the brim of his dirty old cowboy hat jack told me a story when i was ten years old he said there was once a fool tried to swim this swamp with his back weighted down with gold he said you should ve seen that alligator smile he had a meal fit for a king but he ened up on my table son money ain t everything he said there s only one way into this world and one way out it s true you either eat the alligator or he s gonna eat you there s people livin in a high rise that ll never hear a robin sing what good is first place when you re in a rat race money ain t everything little maggie may lay dying her heart was about to go when her daddy found a sack on the porch out back with a half a million dollars in gold they still talk about the stranger who saved her life that spring no name on the note but someone wrote money ain t everything he said there s only one way into this world and one way out it s true you either eat the alligator or he s gonna eat you there s people livin in a high rise that ll never hear a robin sing what good is first place when you re in a rat race money ain t everything no name on the note but i know who wrote money ain t everything