The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #112709 Message #2388676
Posted By: PoppaGator
14-Jul-08 - 01:30 PM
Thread Name: Song for a mermaid
Subject: RE: Song for a mermaid
Then there's Mississippi John Hurt's mermaid song:
LET THE MERMAIDS FLIRT WITH ME (Key of C)
C G C Blues all on the ocean
F C Blues all in the air
F C Can't stay here no longer
G G7 Have no steamship fare
(CHORUS:) C G C When my earthly trials are over
F C Cast my body out in the sea
F C Save all the undertaker bills
G C Let the mermaids flirt with me
Wife controls our unhappy home** My sweetheart I cannot find The only thing that I can call my own is a Troubled and a worried mind
(Repeat Chorus)
I do not work for pleasure Earthly peace, I'll see no more*** The onliest reason I work at all is Drive the wolf from my door
(Repeat Chorus)
Blues all in my body, My darlin' has forsaken me If I ever want to see her face again I have to swim across the see
**(In some versions, it sounds as though Hurt sang "My wife controls our happy home")