SAILOR SONGS


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The Mermaid

Traditional:

courtesy of www.SailorSongs.com

            G                           C          G
Twas Friday morn when we set sail
              C             D7               G
And we were not far from the land
                                                  C              G
When the captain, he spied a lovely mermaid
            C                   D7               G
With a comb and a glass in her hand

                                   C         G
O the ocean's waves may roll
                                              D7
And the stormy winds will blow
           G                                 C                      G
While we poor sailors go skipping to the top
             C                    D7                 G
And the landlubbers lie down below (below, below)
              C                   D7               G
And the landlubbers lie down below

         G                                               C          G
Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship,
          C                D7           G
And a brave old man was he,
                                                            C                           G
He said, "This fishy mermaid has warned me of our doom:
                 C                D7                   G
We shall sink to the bottom of the sea!"CHORUS

       G                                          C          G
And up spoke the mate of our gallant ship
          C                    D7           G
And a well-spoken man was he
                                  C                  G
I have me a wife in Salem by the sea
           C                  D7             G
And tonight she a widow will be CHORUS

G                                                    C          G
And up spoke the cookie of our gallant ship
          C            D7             G
And a red hot cookie was he
G                                                      C                  G
Saying I care much more for my pots and my pans
            C               D7                   G
Than I do for the bottom of the sea  CHORUS

G                                                           C         G
Then up spake the cabinboy, of our gallant ship
   C                   D7         G
A well spoken lad was he
G                                     C        G
There's nary a soul in Salem Town
         C         D7       G  
Who cares a bit for me.  CHORUS

G                                                         C          G
Then three times around went our gallant ship
       C                   D7                 G
And three times around went she
G                                                 C         G
Three times around went our gallant ship
              C                 D7                   G
And she sank to the bottom of the sea  CHORUS



The author of this website has put a lot of time and effort into gathering the greatest collection of sea shanties for the world to enjoy - There are songs that have been to sung to a job of work at sea for many, many years and collecting them has been a great endeavour. - Roger Chartier has made the effort out of his own interest and the requests that he has gotten to do this work from fellow musicians who wanted a good source of sea shanties to draw on and learn from. He has been told that for this effort he is a remarkable man.