Three Mermaids

(Brühlmann/Frey)

As a young boy I loved to sit by the lake
Watching the ships and I wondered what it takes
To make steel and wooden planks able to swim
When to think you could walk on water was a sin
So I went up to my father but he laughed about my note
He took a sheet of paper, showed me how to fold a boat
I carried it to the shore and to put it in I bent down
My mother who was watching me thought I’d jump in and drown
She flew down to the water and she grabbed me by my shirt
She pulled me along with my face down in the dirt
She cried and she yelled boy what are you putting me through
Water is made for the fish but it’s not made for you

When I grew a little older I spent my days down at the port
Studying the sailors setting sail and then depart
But yet I kept on working on firm ground every day
Dreaming of the ocean a landlubber I did stay
I was saving all my money to afford a sailing-trip
And when I had it ready I found a skipper and a ship
We went on board weighed anchor and I waved from the post
We sailed into a dead-calm barely two miles off the coast
On the seventh day the skipper called to row back to the shore
He dropped me off again where he had picked me up before
Then he said for the sake of the ship and the crew
Ships are made for sailors but they’re not made for you

I was standing at the ocean feeling as lonely as can be
The tide came rolling in and there was no one else but me
Then all across the waves I heard a chant so soft and sweet
I thought my heart would meld away my eyes did start to weep
Through the tears I saw the banks and to my surprise
Three mermaids they were sitting there right before my eyes
Most beautiful and splenderous three gems out of the seas
I ran ino the water until it went above my knees
I stood there in the surf when I could not go further on
They shouted go back to the shore because that’s where you belong
We’ve come here to sing you a song of the blue
The sea is made for the mermaids but it’s not made for you

I’ve kept away from waters ever since that very day
Resisting to the powers that drive me forth into the spray
It feels like evey nerve was attached onto a wave
And this yearning will be over only when I’m in my grave
But until I lay down there and I hope that’s not too soon
I live my life related to the tide just like the moon
So when the full moon rises I’ll be at the harbour bar
With the sailors and the fishermen and whiskey in the yar
I’m listening to their stories of places far across the sea
Following their yarn as if they had been there with me
Pity my fate a sailor I’ll never be
But I know that the mermaids are singing –  just for me