Mermaid Sea Shanties and Songs

[MermaidNerenia]

The Mermaid Song
(Newfoundland)

Twas Friday morn when we set sail
And we were not far from the land
When the captain, he spied a lovely mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand

O the ocean's waves will roll
And the stormy winds will blow
While we poor sailors go skipping to the top
And the landlubbers lie down below (below, below)
And the landlubbers lie down below

And up spoke the captain of our gallant ship
And a well-spoken man was he
I have me a wife in Salem by the sea
And tonight she a widow will be

And up spoke the cookie of our gallant ship
And a red hot cookie was he
Saying I care much more for my pots and my pans
Than I do for the bottom of the sea

Then up spoke the cabinboy, of our gallant ship
And a nasty little lad was he.
I'm not quite sure I can spell "mermaid"
But I'm going to the bottom of the sea.

Then three times around went our gallant ship
And three times around went she
Three times around went our gallant ship
And she sank to the bottom of the sea


KEY G

verse:
G G C C
C D7 G
G G C C
C D7 G


chorus:
G G G G
G G D7 D7
G G C C
C D7 G

[MermaidNerenia]

THE MERMAID
As I sailed from Galway in service to the Queen
My ship she grew lost no land was seen.
I stood at the rail to take the air
And my eyes did see in the water A mermaid swimming there

Her face shone of moonlight her comb was in her hair
She was garlanded with pearls and shells so rare.
She lifted her glass myself to see
And the image there in her looking glass was my destiny

The vision I saw as I looked into the glass
Foretold of our doom soon come to pass.
My ship would go down into the sea
And the mermaid said I can save you all just believe in me

The clouds rolled with thunder our ship would soon be lost
I begged for our lives at any cost.
She smiled as she sang my crew to sleep with her charming voice
I did fall into a slumber deep

The next thing I heard as I woke from her spell
Was the distant faint ringing of a bell.
My crew they were shouting at sight of shore
And the mermaid's song shall be in my heart forever more

[MermaidNerenia]

Great Big Sea (Shel Silverstein)

The Mermaid (Great Big Sea)

When I was a lad in a fishin' town,
Me old man said to me:
"You can spend your life, your jolly life,
Just sailin' on the sea.

"You can search the world for pretty girls,
Till your eyes are weak and dim,
But, don't go searchin' 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 on to a sailing ship,
My very first day at sea,
I seen the mermaid in the waves,
A-reachin' 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,
Down to her seaweed bed,
And 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 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.

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 silvery glow of her scales."

But then her sister she swam by
And set me heart a-whirl,
'Cause her upper part was an ugly fish
But the 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 love 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.

[MermaidNerenia]

A SAILOR AND HIS BRIDE.

Long ago when we were young,
The flowers they blossomed, and the birds they sung.
A sailor lad and his lovely bride
Were walking by the ocean side.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
A sailor lad and his lovely bride
Were walking by the ocean side.

It's scarce six months since we were wed
But oh! how fast the time has fled.
He must leave at dawn of day
When the good ship bears her love away.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
He must leave at dawn of day
When the good ship bears her love away.

Long years have passed but he comes no more
To greet his bride on a lonely shore.
The ship went down in the howling of the storm
And the waves devoured his lifeless form.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
The ship went down in the howling of the storm
And the waves devoured his lifeless form.

Now he sleeps beneath the sea.
The mermaids there they sing for me.
The mermaids down at the bottom of the sea,
Singing their sad, sad songs for me.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
The mermaids down at the bottom of the sea,
Singing their sad, sad songs for me.

[MermaidNerenia]

And of course the ever popular

Eddystone Light

Yo ho, Here's a tale
That's fair and dear to the hearts of those that sail
'Bout a lighthouse keeper and his bare faced wife
Who joined together for a different life
Yo ho, The winds and water tell the tale

My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light
He married a mermaid one fine night
From this union there came three
A porpoise and a porgy and the other one me!

Yo ho ho, the wind blows free,
Oh, for the life on the rolling sea!

Late one night, I was a-trimming of the glim
While singing a verse from the evening hymn
A voice on the starboard shouted "Ahoy!"
And there was my mother, a-sitting on a buoy.

Yo ho ho, the wind blows free,
Oh, for the life on the rolling sea!

"Tell me what has become of my children three?"
My mother she did asked of me.
One was exhibited as a talking fish
The other was served on a chafing dish.

Yo ho ho, the wind blows free,
Oh, for the life on the rolling sea!

Then the phosphorous flashed in her seaweed hair.
I looked again, and me mother wasn't there
A voice came echoing out from the night
"To Hell with the keeper of the Eddystone Light!"

Yo ho ho, the wind blows free,
Oh, for the life on the rolling sea!

Yo ho, Yo ho
Yo ho, Yo ho, Yo ho...

p.s. this is my phones ringtone

[MermaidNerenia]

Oh, and the most recently popular. I think its more beautiful in the full version.

Jolly Sailor Bold

"Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray,
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,
Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem'd to be in pain,
Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again.

His hair hangs in ringlets, his eyes as black as soles,
My happiness attend him wherever he goes,
From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I'll wander, weep and moan,
All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return.

My father is a merchant — the truth I will now tell,
And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,
His fortune doth exceed 300,000 gold,
And he frowns upon his daughter, 'cause she loves a sailor bold.

A fig for his riches, his merchandise, and gold,
True love has grafted my heart; give me my sailor bold:
Should he return in poverty, from o'er the ocean far,
To my tender bosom, I'll fondly press my jolly tar.

My sailor is as smiling as the pleasant month of May,
And oft we have wandered through Ratcliffe Highway,
Where many a pretty blooming girl we did behold,
Reclining on the bosom of her jolly sailor bold.

My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,
Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be
Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,

While up aloft, in storm, from me his absence mourn,
And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return.
My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing that can console me but my jolly sailor bold."

[Alveric]

The first song can be found on a Clancy Brothers CD, I'll try to find it. I think it's still available.

Alveric

[AniaR]

Ive made a thread too for mermaid music videos