ID song: "..top half was an ugly fish..."
Brenda
.. and the bottom half was a girl!!"
I remember hearing this song as a kid in the 70s - some comical twist on
mermaids. . Country song, the singer was male and he had a strong 'twang'.
This is the only line I remember.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated: lyrics, singer, year it was released,
anything - I've been wondering about who sang this song for decades!!
cheers,
Brenda
Tiny Dancer
Re: ID song: "..top half was an ugly fish..."
Bless you for asking, Brenda, I love sharing Shel's words :-) The only
version I heard as a kid was Bobby Bare's from the album of Shel's
songs he released in '73, "Bobby Bare sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies".
Thus began my love affair with that rascal Shel (who died last year, sad
to say). Here are the lyrics from this fantastic Shel site:
http://www.banned-width.com/shel.html
No question they're correct, I submitted them myself :-) Enjoy!
The Mermaid
written by Shel Silverstein
performed by Bobby Bare
on the album "Bobby Bare sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies"
(spoken intro: When I was twelve years old I used to see the pictures of
mermaids in all the books and magazines. Not mermaids but mermaids
(pronounced MAREmaids), that's what we called them at home. And all
the pictures, yeah, they never had no bras on, they didn't have anything on!
And I was old enough that I knew that they didn't really exist, but, I also
wondered, if they did exist, what the hell would you do with one if you caught it?!)
When I was a lad in a fishing town, an 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 swimmin' with a mermaid, son, if you don't know how to swim!
'Cause her hair is green as seaweed
And her skin is blue and pale
And I'll tell you now before you start
You can love that girl with all your heart
But you're just gonna love the upper part
You're not gonna like the tail!"
So I signed on to a whalin' ship, and my very first day at sea
I seen 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 things you never seen before!"
So over I jumped and she pulled me down, down to her seaweed bed
And a pillow made of tortoise shells, she placed beneath my head
She fed me shrimps and caviar upon a silver dish
From her head to her waist, she was just my taste
But the rest of her was a fish!
Her hair was green as seaweed
And her skin was blue and pale
And her face it was a work of art
And I loved that girl with all my heart
But I only loved the upper part
I did not like the tail!
Then one day she swam away and I sang to the clams and whales
How I missed her fins and her seaweed hair and the silvery shine of her scales
Then her sister she swam by and set my heart a-whirl
'Cause her upper part was an ugly fish but the bottom part was a girl!
Yeah, her toes are pink and rosey
And her knees are smooth and pale
And her legs they are a work of art
And I love that girl with all my heart
I don't give a damn about the upper part
And that's how I end my tale
Cheers,
TD
Anything too stupid to be said is sung.
Voltaire
Webmistress of Tiny Dancer's X-Files Episode Guide
http://www.insanity.com.au/td/
The Sesame Street Lyrics and Sounds Archive
http://i.am/tinyd
lugnut
wrote:
>
>.. and the bottom half was a girl!!"
>
>I remember hearing this song as a kid in the 70s - some comical twist on
>mermaids. . Country song, the singer was male and he had a strong 'twang'.
>This is the only line I remember.
>
>Any help is GREATLY appreciated: lyrics, singer, year it was released,
>anything - I've been wondering about who sang this song for decades!!
>
>cheers,
>Brenda
I don't remember the title, but it was by Bobby Bare. I recall my dad
having it on an 8-track.
JiveTalk88
Here ya' go. From the late, great Uncle Shelby Silverstein (one of the true
masters):
THE TALE OF THE MERMAID
by Shel Silverstein (as recorded by Bobby Bare)
When I was a lad in a fishin' town,
An 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
'til your eyes are 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 seaweed,
her skin is blue and pale"
"Her eyes they are a work of art, and
you'll love that girl with all your heart"
"But you'll only love the upper part,
you will not like the tail"
I signed on with a whaling ship and my very first day at sea
I saw a mermaid in the waves, reaching out for me,
"Come live with me in the sea," said she
"And down on the ocean's floor,
"I'll show you the most wondrous things,
"You've ever seen before."
So, over I jumped and she pulled me down,
Down to her seaweed bed
And a pillow made from a tortoise shell
She placed beneath my head
She fed me shrimp and caviar
From off a silver dish
From her head to her waist she was just my taste
But the rest of her was a FISH
Her hair was green as seaweed, her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
And I loved that girl with all my heart
But I only loved the upper part
I did NOT like the tail
Then one day she swam away and I sang to the clams and the whales
Cause I missed her fins and her seaweed hair and her silver shiny scales
But, then, her sister, she swam by
And set my heart awhirl
Cause the upper part was an ugly fish
But the bottom part was a GIRL
Her toes are pink and rosy
Her knees are smooth and pale
Her legs they are a work of art
And I love that girl with ALL my heart
Don't give a damn `bout the upper part
And that`s how I end this tale
"I let my mind wander...and the durned thing never came back!"