[ C ]When I was a lad in a fishing town, an [ F ]old man said to [ C ]me,you can
[ F ]spend your [ C ]life, your [ F ]jolly life, just [ D7 ]sailing on the [ G7 ]sea,
you can [ C ]search the world for pretty girls, till your [ F ]eyes are weak and
[ C ]dim , but [ F ]don't go swimming with a [ C ]mermaid, son, if you [ G7 ]don't
know how to [ C ]swim.

[ C ]Cause her [ F ]hair is green as [ C ]seaweed and her [ F ]skin is blue and
[ C ]pale, and I'll [ F ]tell you now be[ C ]fore you start, you can [ F ]love that
girl with [ C ]all your heart, but you're just gonna [ G7 ]love the [ C ]upper
[ F ]part, you're [ C ]not gonna [ G7 ]like the [ C ]tail.

[ C ]So I signed on with a whaling ship, and my [ F ]very first day at [ C ]sea, I
[ F ]seen a mermaid [ C ]in the waves a [ D7 ]reaching out to [ G7 ]me, come [ C ]live
with me in the sea said she, and [ F ]down on the ocean [ C ]floor, I'll [ F ]show
you a million [ C ]wondrous things, you've [ G7 ]never seen be[ C ]fore.

[ C ]So over I jumped and she pulled me down, [ F ]down to her seaweed [ C ]bed,
and a [ F ]pillow made of [ C ]tortoise shell [ D7 ]she placed beneath my
[ G7 ]head, she [ C ]fed me shrimps and caviar, [ F ]upon a silver [ C ]dish, from
her [ F ]head to her waist she was [ C ]just my taste, but the [ G7 ]rest of her
was A [ C ]fish.

Her [ F ]hair was green as [ C ]seaweed and her [ F ]skin was blue and [ C ]pale,
and her [ F ]face it was a [ C ]work of art,and I [ F ]loved that girl with [ C ]all
my heart, but I [ F ]only liked the [ C ]upper part, I [ G7 ]did not like the
[ C ]tail.

[ C ]And then one day she swam away, and I [ F ]sang to the clams and [ C ]whales,
how I [ F ]missed her fins and her [ C ]seaweed hair, and the [ D7 ]silvery shine
of her [ G7 ]scales, but [ C ]then her sister, she swam by and [ F ]set my heart a
[ C ]whirl, cause her [ F ]upper part was an [ C ]ugly fish, but the [ G7 ]bottom
part was a [ C ]girl.

[ C ]Her [ F ]toes are pink and [ C ]rosy, and her [ F ]knees are smooth and
[ C ]pale, and her [ F ]legs they are a [ C ]working part, and I   [ F ]love that
girl with [ C ]all my heart, and I [ F ]don't give a damn about the [ C ]upper
part, and [ G7 ]that's how I end my [ C ]tail.