While it has been confirmed that the band has officially retired, former members Alan Doyle and Séan McCann have continued performing in their own solo careers typically including music from Great Big Sea in their setlists.
The band played its first official concert on March 11, 1993, opening for The Irish Descendants at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland. The founding band members included Alan Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin), Séan McCann (vocals, bodhrán, guitar, tin whistle), Darrell Power (vocals, bass, guitar, bones), and Bob Hallett (vocals, fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina, bouzouki, whistles, bagpipes).
Power, McCann and Hallett had already been playing together in another band. In the winter of 1989, the band, a six-piece with guitar, bass, fiddle, accordion and mandolin played its first show at the Memorial University's winter carnival talent show under the name "Newfoundland Republican Army" or NRA, and won first prize. The band's only other appearance as NRA was later that winter at the university "Grad House". The band then dropped the fiddler, accordion player and the name.
The band found its new name as original bassist Jeff Scott rented an apartment on Rankin Street, St. John's, where the members first met and discussed the formation of the band. As a four-piece, the band first appeared as "Rankin Street" at a little pub in downtown St. John's called "The Rose and Thistle", playing for $100 and beer. They played through Sean McCann's stereo system, as renting a PA would have cost more than the night's earnings. Susan Hickey (guitar and vocals) left the band months later to attend school in Halifax and was replaced by Darrell Power. The band gained much popularity playing such local pubs as Bridget's and Greensleeves. In 1991 Jeff Scott was replaced by Jackie St. Croix on bass. The band released one recording on cassette titled "Rankin Street".
In 1997, the band reached the top ten of the Canadian RPM pop chart with "When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)", a cover of a song by the British folk group Oysterband. They performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto.
The band won the Entertainer of the Year award at the East Coast Music Awards for every year between 1996 and 2000. In 2001, they decided not to submit their name for nomination in order to allow other bands to compete. They have also been nominated for several Juno Awards, including Group of the Year in 1998, 2005, 2009, and 2011.
Darrell Power retired from Great Big Sea in 2003 to spend more time with his family and friends. Supporting members of the band include Canadian freelance drummer Kris MacFarlane (2002) (drums, accordion, guitar, backing vocals) and Murray Foster (2003, formerly of the band Moxy Früvous) (bass, backing vocals).
In late 2005, the band released its long-awaited "traditional" album, The Hard and the Easy, on which they recorded their favourite Newfoundland party songs. The title of the album comes from a line of the song "Tickle Cove Pond", one of two songs on the album about a horse falling through ice.
On June 13, 2007, the band announced they would return to the studio with producer Hawksley Workman. On March 14, 2008, the band announced that the title of the new album would be Fortune's Favour, borrowing a phrase from one of the songs on the album, "England". The album was officially released on June 24, 2008 across all of North America.
On February 23, 2010, band member Séan McCann released his debut solo album Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes to pleasing critical success.
On July 13, 2010, Great Big Sea released their new album Safe Upon the Shore in North America. Alan's "From the Road" blog on the band's website, originally confirmed its production in an April posting, speaking also of the album's subsequent release in July. "Nothing But A Song" was the first single off the bands' ninth studio recording, with a subsequent tour kicking off at the end of the summer 2010.
Great Big Sea announced a 'greatest hits' album titled "XX" in October 2012, accompanied by a 20th anniversary tour with 32 dates in 28 cities across the US and Canada which kicked off on March 5, 2013 in Los Angeles and finished in St. John's on April 23, 2013.
In 2013, McCann announced that he would be leaving the band at the end of the XX tour, much to the dismay of his bandmates. Struggling to maintain his new sobriety, he told his bandmates in January of 2013 that XX would be his last tour with the band, but the rest of the band and its management refused to announce this publicly. Finally, in November 2013 with XX almost over, McCann announced his departure himself in a tweet, feeling that the fans needed to know. While largely vilified by Great Big Sea fans with little said by the band or management to counter this view, McCann claims he was devastated by how Great Big Sea ended and wishes it could have gone differently.
Following McCann's departure, the remaining band members spent a year or so trying to find an amicable way that they could continue without him. Eventually coming to the realization that they didn’t want to go on like that, and happily retiring the band.
The Mermaid
Great Big Sea Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Me old man said to me
You can spend your life, your jolly life
Just sailing on the sea
You can search the world for pretty girls
Til your eyes are weak and dim
But don't go searching 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 love that girl with all my heart
But I only like the upper part
I did not like the tail
I signed onto a sailing ship
My very first day at sea
I seen a mermaid in the waves
A-reaching out to me
Come live with me in the sea, said she
Down on the ocean floor
And I'll show you a million wondrous 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 her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
I love that girl with all my heart
But I only like 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 silver shine of her scales
But then her sister, she swam by
Set my heart awhirl
'Cause her upper part was an ugly fish
But her 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
The song "The Mermaid" by Great Big Sea is a storytelling ballad about a young man who goes to sea and meets a mermaid. In the first verse, he recalls his father's warning to avoid mermaids if he doesn't know how to swim, setting up the conflict of the story. The second verse describes the mermaid's physical appearance, with green seaweed hair and blue, pale skin. Despite finding her beautiful, the young man is put off by her fish tail. However, when the mermaid invites him to live with her and shows him her underwater world, he falls in love with her and happily stays with her. But when she swims away, he is saddened until he meets her sister, who has a girl's body and fish tail. He happily accepts her as his love interest, singing the final lines with joy.
The lyrics contain several themes, such as the allure and danger of the sea, forbidden love, and the acceptance of physical differences. The young man's journey mirrors the traditional hero's journey, as he leaves his familiar fishing town and undergoes a transformative experience with the mermaids. The song's catchy melody and lively folk-inspired instrumentation add to its charm.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a lad in a fishing town
In my younger years, I resided in a town known for fishing
Me old man said to me
My father told me
You can spend your life, your jolly life
Just sailing on the sea
You can enjoy your life sailing the seas
You can search the world for pretty girls
Til your eyes are weak and dim
You can travel around the world to find beautiful women until your vision fails
But don't go searching for a mermaid, son
If you don't know how to swim
However, you should not attempt to find a mermaid if you cannot swim
'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
I love that girl with all my heart
But I only like the upper part
I did not like the tail
The mermaid had green hair resembling seaweed, blue, pale skin and a beautiful face that I adored, yet I was only attracted to her upper body and found her fishtail unappealing
I signed onto a sailing ship
My very first day at sea
I seen a mermaid in the waves
A-reaching out to me
On my very first day at sea, while onboard a ship, a mermaid in the waves approached me
Come live with me in the sea, said she
Down on the ocean floor
And I'll show you a million wondrous things
You've never seen before
The mermaid invited me to join her in the sea, promising to reveal countless unique sights I had 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
I jumped overboard and the mermaid pulled me below the surface to her bed made of seaweed, where she provided me with a pillow crafted from a tortoise shell.
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
The mermaid served me shrimp and caviar on a silver dish, and I found her upper body to be attractive. However, I was reminded that from her waist down, she was still a fish.
'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
I love that girl with all my heart
But I only like the upper part
I did not like the tail
The mermaid still had green hair like seaweed, blue, pale skin, and a lovely face, and I was deeply enamored with her. However, I still did not find her fishtail appealing.
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 silver shine of her scales
Sadly, one day the mermaid swam away, and I was left to sing to clams and whales about how much I missed her green hair resembling seaweed and the sparkle of her silver scales.
But then her sister, she swam by
Set my heart awhirl
'Cause her upper part was an ugly fish
But her bottom part was a girl
However, my heart was rekindled when the mermaid's sister came swimming by with the upper body resembling that of an unpleasant fish, but the lower half of a human 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
This mermaid's green seaweed-like hair and blue, pale skin remained the same, but instead of a fishtail, she had legs resembling a work of art. I loved her wholeheartedly this time, without minding the upper parts since that's the part that gave me the tale.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: JIM FRIEDMAN, SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MajBunl
The Mermaid
Great Big Sea
When I was a lad in a fishing town
Me old man said to me
You can spend your life, your jolly life
Just sailing on the sea
You can search the world for pretty girls
Til your eyes are weak and dim
But don't go searching 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 love that girl with all my heart
But I only like the upper part
I did not like the tail
I signed onto a sailing ship
My very first day at sea
I seen a mermaid in the waves
A-reaching out to me
Come live with me in the sea, said she
Down on the ocean floor
And I'll show you a million wondrous 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 her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
I love that girl with all my heart
But I only like 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 silver shine of her scales
But then her sister, she swam by
Set my heart awhirl
'Cause her upper part was an ugly fish
But her 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
Songwriters: Jim Friedman / Shel Silverstein
The Mermaid lyrics © T.R.O. Inc.
@KiaDraven
This song literally makes me giggle the entire way through!
@gregkral4467
This song is a kinda when I first fell in love or figured what love was about, or the hope for it, the search for it.... this tickled a lot, and still love it, but reminds me of 1984 movie Splash ' What I was hoping back then what it should and always should be like...
So here is link to the best part from way back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HSAXTL4RRk
sorry, got kinda mushy ....
But still hope that that may be for some folk...
Still in love with the idea... ya know?
@wanghiskhan7345
Yep! Shel Silverstein writing and poetry has been having that effect on people for decades!
@loganv944
Same
@yourmomsbff7670
Playing it live, it never fails to get a laugh.
They always start with the look of "WTF is this guy saying," but by the end they come around.
@roxannekerry2203
I had a fish back my freshman year of college and he no joke “danced” to this song! Would get all swimmy up by the surface more active than any time he normally was! Miss my little “Amadeus” fish dude
@plantsanimateddavidinventa871
Yay weird dude
@dyne313
Reminds me of Fry from Futurama.
"Why couldn't she be the other kind of mermaid, with the fish part on top and lady part on bottom."
@alexmckay5583
Why on earth is this not on Spotify
@alexandriaarmstrong7938
Omg same