Silverstein's passion for music was clear early on as he studied for a while at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. As a songwriter, Silverstein kept a low profile but cast a long shadow. He tended to shun publicity and even photographers. Nonetheless, his musical output included many songs which were hits for other artists. Most notably, he wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue" that was performed by Johnny Cash (for which he won a Grammy in 1970); "One's on the Way" (which was a hit for Loretta Lynn), and "The Unicorn Song" which, despite having nothing to do with Ireland nor Irish culture, became the signature piece for The Irish Rovers in 1968 and is popular in pubs all over the world to this day. He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook songs, including "Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball", "Sylvia's Mother", and the cautionary song about VD, "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most". He also wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "Marie Laveau", "Rosalie's Good Eats Cafe", "The Mermaid", "The Winner", and "Tequila Sheila". The song "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan",] recorded in 1979 by Marianne Faithfull and later featured in the films Montenegro and Thelma & Louise, was also by Silverstein.
The Mermaid
Shel Silverstein Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I was a lad in a fishing town, an old man said to me,
"You can spend your life, your jolly life, a-sailing on the sea.
You can search the world for pretty girls 'til your eyes grow weak and dim,
But don't go swimmin' with a mermaid, son, if you don't know how to swim!
'Cause her hair is green as sea-weed,
Her lips are blue and pale.
You can love that girl with all your heart,
But you'll only love the upper part;
You will NOT like the tail!
I signed on to a whalin' ship, and my very first day at sea,
I spied a mermaid in the waves, a-reachin' out to me.
"Come live with me in the sea," said she, "and down on the ocean's floor.
I'll show you a million wond'rous sights you've never seen before!"
So I jumped on in and she pulled me down, down to her seaweed bed.
A pillow she made of tortoise shells, and placed beneath my head.
She fed me shrimp and caviar from a silvery dish.
She was just my taste (down to her waist), but the rest of her was fish!
Her hair was green as seaweed.
Her lips were blue and pale.
Her face it was a work of art,
But I only gave her half my heart,
'Cause tho I loved the upper part,
I did NOT like the tail!
And then one day when I looked up, I saw a sailin' ship,
And I met the stare of a millionaire out on a fishing trip.
A diamond ring he tied on a string and lowered it down to her,
And my love divine, she went for the line and went for the usual lure!
So I sighed in the rolling tide, and I cried to the clams and the whales
How I missed her hair and her seagreen eyes; I missed the shine of her scales.
Just then her sister swam on by, and set my heart a-whirl --
For her upper part was an ugly old fish, but the bottom half was GIRL!
Her toes are round and rosey!
Her legs are slim and pale!
Her face might not be a work of art,
But I love that girl with all my heart.
And I don't give a damn about the upper part --
That's how I end my tale! ('Cause now I'm getting tail!)
Shel Silverstein's The Mermaid is a humorous and cautionary tale about the danger of falling in love with a mermaid. The singer is warned by an old fisherman not to swim with a mermaid if he does not know how to swim. However, when he goes out to sea, he meets a mermaid who leads him to a wondrous underwater world, offering him a life of luxury and plenty. The singer is enamored with the upper part of the mermaid, finding her "just his taste." But he can't seem to get over the reality that she is half fish, and ultimately he falls in love with another mermaid, who has a fishy face but a human lower half.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a lad in a fishing town, an old man said to me, "You can spend your life, your jolly life, a-sailing on the sea.
A wise old man warned me about the perils of the sea.
You can search the world for pretty girls 'til your eyes grow weak and dim, But don't go swimmin' with a mermaid, son, if you don't know how to swim!
The old man told me not to mess with mermaids.
'Cause her hair is green as sea-weed, Her lips are blue and pale.
Mermaids have green hair and blue lips.
I'll tell you now before you start, You can love that girl with all your heart, But you'll only love the upper part; You will NOT like the tail!
Mermaids may be beautiful, but they are not what they seem.
I signed on to a whalin' ship, and my very first day at sea, I spied a mermaid in the waves, a-reachin' out to me.
While on my first day at sea, I saw a mermaid approaching me.
"Come live with me in the sea," said she, "and down on the ocean's floor. I'll show you a million wond'rous sights you've never seen before!"
The mermaid tempted me with the wonders of the ocean.
So I jumped on in and she pulled me down, down to her seaweed bed. A pillow she made of tortoise shells, and placed beneath my head.
The mermaid took me to her underwater bed made of seaweed and tortoise shells.
She fed me shrimp and caviar from a silvery dish. She was just my taste (down to her waist), but the rest of her was fish!
The mermaid fed me delicious seafood, but her lower half was actually a fish's tail.
Her hair was green as seaweed. Her lips were blue and pale. Her face it was a work of art, But I only gave her half my heart, 'Cause tho I loved the upper part, I did NOT like the tail!
Despite her beautiful face and hair, I couldn't love the mermaid's lower half.
And then one day when I looked up, I saw a sailin' ship, And I met the stare of a millionaire out on a fishing trip.
One day while at sea, I saw a wealthy fisherman on a nearby ship.
A diamond ring he tied on a string and lowered it down to her, And my love divine, she went for the line and went for the usual lure!
The fisherman lured the mermaid away with a diamond ring.
So I sighed in the rolling tide, and I cried to the clams and the whales How I missed her hair and her seagreen eyes; I missed the shine of her scales.
I was heartbroken when the mermaid left me and missed her beautiful features.
Just then her sister swam on by, and set my heart a-whirl -- For her upper part was an ugly old fish, but the bottom half was GIRL!
Then I saw the mermaid's sister, who was ugly on top but had a human bottom half.
Her toes are round and rosey! Her legs are slim and pale! Her face might not be a work of art, But I love that girl with all my heart.
Despite her unattractive face, I fell in love with the new half-fish girl.
And I don't give a damn about the upper part -- That's how I end my tale! ('Cause now I'm getting tail!)
Finally, I found true love with the half-fish girl, and didn't care about her unattractive face. Now, I'm happily getting tail.
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
Written by: JIM FRIEDMAN, SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind