Verse 1:
So I [G]said,[Am]men, pull her [C]out of the water and [G]then
Lay on [Am]hands and [C]bind back her flippers and [G]tail
[Am]Until inter[C]national waters and [G]there
We'll [Am]feel, all that's [C]human inside of her
Riff:
E 3-5-7-5-3 3
B 5-3-3
G
D
A
E
Verse 2:
So she's [G]chilly and [Am]slick
on her [C]hips where the scales meet with [G]skin
With the [Am]sickening [C]flick of her tail
[G]Circling her [Am]gills filled with [C]cold salty water
And she [G]thrashes and [Am]twirls
aah the [C]freezing fins flutter
[Riff]
But she's [G]pretty, I [Am]think with her [C]hair dark as ink.
And her [G]belly, bone [Am]white.
and her [C]lips of a slight seashell [G]pink lightly [Am]part
And she's [C]tonging the tubs rusty [G]rim
As the [Am]salt
Of the [C]water it flows out of it.
[Riff]
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/o/okkervil_river/mermaid_tab.html ]
Oh fare[C]wells is to the [F]land we know [G]well
We'll [C]never be [F]touching [G]again.
To [C]fields where we [F]rambled and [G]ran.
Fare[C]well to our [F]wives and [G]children.
Let's [C]stand on the [F]deck and lets [G]watch
They're [C]all [F]disa[G]ppearing.
[Riff x2]
The placement of the chords and the riff follows that pattern for the rest of the song.
And the days all float by and the days over waves
Under sky and the weeks slowly leak into years.
The last islands are all left behind
as we silently sail
Until late some dark night a wild wind starts to wail
And our map blows away and our compasses fail
And it's out on the lost boiling black water
where I see her float out
She's so thin and so pale.
I see her rise up.
she's so fast and so fair.
My hands knead and they press to a point in the air.
Then my mouth fills with a panicking prayer
My skull fills with more color than care.
Then my heart fills with love with too much love to bear.
And I know if I stay that she'll always be there
My hands soak in cold sand seaweed swam through her hair
Oooooh la la la la
Laaaaa la la la la
