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
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