Burl Ives Follow

And he slept with a mermaid one fine night
From this union there came three
A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me

Yo ho ho
The wind blows free
Oh for the life on the rolling sea

One day as I was a-trimmin' the glim
Humming a tune from the evening hymn
A voice from the starboard shouted, "Ahoy"
And there was me mother a-sittin' on the buoy

Yo ho ho
The wind blows free
Oh for the life on the rolling sea

Oh what has become of me children three?
Me mother then she asked of me
One was exhibited as a talking fish
The other was served in a chafing dish

Yo ho ho
The wind blows free
Oh for the life on the rolling sea

Then the phosphorus flashed in her seaweed hair
I looked again, but me mother wasn't there
But I heard her voice echoing back through the night
The devil take the keeper of the eddystone light

Yo ho ho
The wind blows free
Oh for the life on the rolling sea

Oh, the moral of the story you'll learn when you find
To leave God's creatures for what nature had in mind
For fishes are for cookin', mermaids are for tales
Seaweed is for sushi and protecting is for whales

Yo ho ho
The wind blows free
Oh for the life on the rolling sea

Yo ho ho
The wind blows free
Oh for the life on the rolling sea

And he slept with a mermaid one fine night
From this union there came three