How to Play The Mermaid on Guitar?

Great Big Sea - The Mermaid can be played in the key of D using the D, G, Bm, A, F#m chords. For D, To play D, press fret 2 on the low E string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the G string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the high E string with finger 2, let A, D ring open, mute B. For G, To play G, press fret 2 on the A string with finger 2, let D, G, B ring open, mute low E, high E. For Bm, To play Bm, barre fret 2 from the low E string to the A string with finger 1, press fret 2 on the high E string with finger 4, let D, B ring open, mute G. For A, To play A, press fret 2 on the D string with finger 2, let low E, A, high E ring open, mute G, B. For F#m, To play F#m | Gbm, barre fret 2 from the G string to the high E string with finger 1, press fret 2 on the low E string with finger 4, let A ring open, mute D. Barre: Use your index finger to press multiple strings on the same fret, keeping your finger flat. You can play The Mermaid with the ↓-↓↑-↑↓↑ strumming pattern.

Great Big Sea - The Mermaid Chords

Chord reference D, G, Bm, A, F#m

Rhythm tips ↓-↓↑-↑↓↑

[D]When I was a lad in a fishing town me [G]old man said to me [D] “You can spend your life, your jolly life just sai[Bm]ling on the sea.[A] You can [D]search the world for pretty girls ’til your [G]eyes are weak and [F#m]dim, But [G]don’t go searching for [D]a mermaid, son [Bm] If you [G]don’t know [A]how to [D]swim”

[G]‘Cause her hair was green as [D]seaweed Her [G]skin was blue and [D]pale Her [G]face it was [D]a work of art, I [G]loved that girl [D]with all my heart But I on[G]ly liked [D]the upper part [Bm] I [G]did not [A]like the [D]tail

I [D]I signed on board a sailing ship, my [G]very first day at [D]sea I seen a Mermaid in the waves a [Bm]reaching out to [A]me Come [D]live with me in the sea said she, [G]down on the ocean [F#m]floor And I’ll [G]show you a million [D]wondrous things, you’ve [G]never [A]seen be[D]fore So [D]over I jumped and she pulled me down, [G]down to her seaweed [D]bed. And a pillow made of a tortoise shell she [Bm]placed beneath my [A]head She [D]fed me shrimp and caviar [G]upon a silver [F#m]dish From her [G]head to her waist it was [D]just my taste But the [G]rest of [A]her was a [D]fish

[D]But then one day, she swam away, so I [G]sang to the clams and the [D]whales “Oh how I miss her seaweed hair, and the [Bm]silver shine of her scales” But [D]then her sister, she swam by and [G]set my heart [F#m]awhirl Cause her [G]upper part was an [D]ugly fish but her [G]bottom [A]part was a [D]girl [G]‘Her toes are pink and [D]rosy [D] Her [G]knees are smooth and pale [D] Her [G]legs they are a work of [D]art, I [G]love that girl with all my [D]heart But I don’t [G]give a damn about the upper [D]part [Bm] Cause [G]that’s how I [A]get my [D]tail.

Artist Great Big Sea

Album The Hard and the Easy

Genres Folk

Year 2005

Key D

Great Big Sea - The Mermaid can be played in the key of D using the D, G, Bm, A, F#m chords.

For D, To play D, press fret 2 on the low E string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the G string with finger 2, press fret 2 on the high E string with finger 2, let A, D ring open, mute B.
For G, To play G, press fret 2 on the A string with finger 2, let D, G, B ring open, mute low E, high E.
For Bm, To play Bm, barre fret 2 from the low E string to the A string with finger 1, press fret 2 on the high E string with finger 4, let D, B ring open, mute G.
For A, To play A, press fret 2 on the D string with finger 2, let low E, A, high E ring open, mute G, B.
For F#m, To play F#m | Gbm, barre fret 2 from the G string to the high E string with finger 1, press fret 2 on the low E string with finger 4, let A ring open, mute D.

Barre: Use your index finger to press multiple strings on the same fret, keeping your finger flat.

You can play The Mermaid with the ↓-↓↑-↑↓↑ strumming pattern.