When I was a lad in a fishing town Me old man said to me: "You can spend your life, your jolly life Just sailing on the sea. You can search the world for pretty girls Til your eyes are weak and dim, But don't go searching for a mermaid, son If you don't know how to swim" 'Cause her hair was green as seaweed Her skin was blue and pale Her face it was a work of art, I loved that girl with all my heart But I only liked the upper part I did not like the tail
I signed onto a sailing ship My very first day at sea I seen the Mermaid in the waves, Reaching out to me "Come live with me in the sea said she, Down on the ocean floor And I'll show you a million wonderous things You've never seen before So over I jumped and she pulled me down, [- From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/great-big-sea-lyrics/the-mermaid-lyrics.html -] Down to her seaweed bed On a pillow made of a tortoise-shell She placed beneath my head She fed me shrimp and caviar Upon a silver dish From her head to her waist it was just my taste But the rest of her was a fish 'Cause ...
But then one day, she swam away So I sang to the clams and the whales "Oh, how I miss her seaweed hair And the silver shine of her scales But then her sister, she swam by And set my heart awhirl Cause her upper part was an ugly fish But her bottom part was a girl Yes her hair was green as seaweed Her skin was blue and pale Her legs they are a work of art, I loved that girl with all my heart And I don't give a damn about the upper part Cause that's how I get my tail.