Swimming Song

Loudon Wainwright III

1.

This summer I went swimming,

This summer I might have drowned

But I held my breath and I kicked my feet

And I moved my arms around, I moved my arms around.



2.

This summer I swam in the ocean,

And I swam in a swimming pool,

Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes,

I'm a self-destructive fool, a self-destructive fool.



3.

This summer I swam in a public place

And a reservoir, to boot,

At the latter I was informal,

At the former I wore my suit, I wore my swimming suit.



4.

This summer I did the backstroke

And you know that's not all

I did the breast stroke and the butterfly

And the old Australian crawl, the old Australian crawl.



5.

This summer I did swan dives

And jackknifes for you all

And once when you weren't looking

I did a cannonball, I did a cannonball.