Lyr Req: The Mermaid (Shel Silverstein)

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From: Bill Sables (Inactive)
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 07:38 PM

The last verse is:
Then one day she swam away off with the shrimps and the whales
And I missed her skin and her seaweed hair and the silvery swish of her tail
And then her sister she swam by and set my heart a whirl
For the upper half was an ugly fish but the lower part was a girl

And her toes were pink and rosy, Her knees were warm and pale
Her legs they were a work of art I loved that girl with all my heart
And I don't give a dam about the upper part and that's how I end my tale.

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 07:12 PM

If you click here I think you'll find it's the Shel Silverstein song you're looking for.
Bill Sables, it's usually best if you can post the lyrics here to the forum so we all can see them - but in this case, the lyrics have already been posted.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Add: THE MERMAID SONG (?)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 07:12 PM

Subject: The Mermaid Song
From: Peter Stanley : Alias: Mr. Bojangles
Date: 18-Mar-98 - 11:08 PM

Does anyone know the source, the last verse & final chorus and the title of this song? I heard it at a festive gathering, and when I later tried to write it down I found I had to use the spit’n glue of less effective, I think, words and phrases to fill in the gaps in my memory.

When I was a lad in a fishing town, an old man said to me,
“You can spend your life, your bloomin’ life, sailing on the sea.
You can search the world for pretty girls ‘til your eyes grow weak and dim,
But don’t go chasing those mermaids, son, if you don’t know how to swim.”

CHO: For their hair is green as seaweed
And their eyes are blue and pale.
And I’ll tell you now before you start
You may love that girl with all your heart
But you’re just gonna love the upper part
You are not gonna like the tail.

Well, I signed on to a sailing ship, and my very next day at sea,
I spied a mermaid in the waves calling out to me:
“Come go with me to the bottom of the sea and down on the ocean floor.
I’ll show you a million wondrous things that you never have seen before.”

So over I jumped and she pulled me down, down to her ocean bed.
And a pillow made of tortoise shell she lay beneath my head.
She fed me shrimp and caviar all from a silvery dish,
And her upper half was just my taste but her bottom half was a fish.

(From this point the mermaid leaves, and the sailor laments his loss until he encounters a sea creature whose top half is a fish and whose bottom is a woman. The last line approximates: “I didn’t give a damn about the upper half but I sure did love the tail.”)

Brought this up from an old thread. Barry

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 19-Apr-02.

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From:
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 06:15 PM

Thank you, Bill.

Would you mind posting it here? To avoid spam I try to keep my Email address out of forums.

Thanks in advance, Randys

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From:
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 01:42 PM

Bobby Bare recorded 2 versions of The Mermaid song...

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From: RWilhelm
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 01:13 PM

Was it written by Shel Silverstein?

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From: George Henderson
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 12:31 PM

To RandyS

I used to be involved with a band in the 60's called "Saucy Sue and the randy boatmen" Sounds like this was a song we could have used then.

Sounds like wishful thinking to me though?

There are loads of mermaid songs but I never came across this one.

I will keep an eye on this thread - I'm kinda interested.

George Henderson

Subject: RE: Mermaid song
From: Bill Sables (Inactive)
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 12:29 PM

Randy the song you're looking for is "The Tail Of The Mermaid" I will send it to you later tonight, Cheers Bill

Subject: Mermaid song
From: RandyS
Date: 01 Feb 99 - 11:36 AM

Hi everyone!

Does anyone remember a song about mermaids? The gist of the narrative is:

When I was a young sailor, the other sailors told me not to fall in love with mermaids, because you'll like the top half, "but you're not gonna like the tail, you're not gonna like the tail"

Then I was marooned on an island, and fell in love with a mermaid. But I became unhappy, because below the waist, she was just a fish.

Then one day I met another mermaid, and now I'm happy as can be, "for above the waist was an ugly fish, but the bottom half was a girl!"

"And that's the end of my tale"

I would appreciate it if you would post any information you have as to the artist and complete lyrics.

Thanks in advance, RandyS