Bobby Bare – The Mermaid (Guitar)

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Chords

This song was from Bobby Bare's 1973 "Lullabies, Legends and Lies" where Bobby covered a number of Shel Silverstein's songs. The intro is sung over chords which are held until the next chord. Play a simple walk-up run from the open E, F# and G# on the sixth string to the A chord to begin each verse. Alternate bass notes add a lot as well. The Db chord is played as a partial passing chord sod novices can just use this - (x-x-x-1-2-1) then slide up to the regular open D chord. There are a few chords that are held for emphasis at the end of each verse, but those will be clear to those that are familiar with the song. [Intro]
A                                      D               A
When I was a lad in a fishin' town, an old man said to me

         D          A          D     A          B              E
"You can spend your life, your jolly life, just sailin' on the sea

        A                                           D
You can search the world for pretty girls 'til your eyes are weak and dim

    D                        A                    E                 A
But don't go swimmin' with a mermaid, son, if you don't know how to swim!
[Verse 1]
      A                                     D                 A
Well, I signed on to a whalin' ship, and my very first day at sea

  D      A       D      A        B               E
I seen a mermaid in the waves, a-reachin' out to me

      A                                        D
"Come live with me in the sea," said she, "and down on the ocean's floor

     D                  A                            E          A
I'll show you a million wond'rous things that you've never seen before!"
[Verse 2]
     A                                D                   A
Over I jumped and she pulled me down, down to her seaweed bed

        D      A       D        A           B                 E
Where a pillow made of tortoise shells, she placed beneath my head

    A                         D
She fed me shrimps and caviar upon a silver dish

         D                         A                      E               A
From her head to her waste she was just my taste, but the rest of her was fish!
[Chorus]
        D                 A
And her hair was green as seaweed

        D                 A
And her skin was blue and pale

        D             A
And her face it was a work of art

      D                    A
And I loved that girl with all of my heart

      A    B     Db  D
But I only loved the upper part

  A       E        A
I did not love the tail!
[Verse 3]
A                                 D                         A
Then one day she swam away, and I sang to the clams and the whales

      D          A             D       A             B                    E
How I missed her fins, and her seaweed hair, and the silvery shine of her scales

A                            D
Then her sister swam by, and set my heart a-whirl

         D                 A                  E               A
'Cuz her upper part was an ugly fish, but the bottom part was GIRL!
[Chorus]
        D                 A
And her toes are pink and rosey

        D                  A
And her knees are soft and pale

        D                 A
And her legs they are - a work of art

      D                   A
And I love that girl with all my heart

  A            B              Db    D
I don't give a damn about the upper part

    A            E      A
And that's how I end my tale!