The Mermaid

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 hair was green)
Her skin was blue and pale (her skin was pale)
Her face, it was a work of art (a work of art)
I loved that girl with all my heart (I loved that girl)
But I only liked the upper part (ooh-ooh)
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
A-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 wondrous things
You've never seen before

So over I jumped and she pulled me down
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 her hair was green as seaweed (her hair was green)
Her skin was blue and pale (her skin was pale)
Her face, it was a work of art (a work of art)
I loved that girl with all my heart (I loved that girl)
I only liked the upper part (ooh-ooh)
I did not like the tail

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 hair was green)
Her skin was blue and pale (her skin was pale)
Her legs, they are a work of art (a work of art)
I loved that girl with all my heart (I loved that girl)
And I don't give a damn 'bout the upper part (ooh-ooh)
'Cause that's how I get my tail

Come here, me minute, darlin'
Show me your fins
Here, fishy, fishy, fishy
Come here, me minute, darlin'
Come here, me minute
Oh, very good, oh, good
Show me a fin