[Verse]
I'm a sailor man from Wexford town,
I've sailed the seven seas,
I will tell you a true story of the sunny Southern Seas,
We were caught up in the doldrums while waiting for a breeze,
When the stillness of the day was broke,
By a merman in the deep blue seas.

Well, the captain, he slept below while the crew, they lay about,
When down in the ocean, boys, we heard this mighty shout,
His hair was red, his eyes were green,
His beard was floating free.
He'd a long green tail that could kill a whale.
That wobbled in the deep blue sea.

[Chorus]
And the mermaids looked so beautiful,
As they swam around by the shore,
But this merman with his fishy tail,
I'd never seen before,
And sailors tell the tallest tales,
I never told a lie,
He'd a long green tail that could kill a whale,
That wobbled as he swam close by.

Was it Neptune that appeared to us, from his mansions in the deep?
Then the cook O'Toole, well, he ran below,
Woke the captain from his sleep,
And the captain came on deck at once, took a look into the deep
"Sure, I've never seen the likes of it!"
The merman, then, he soon agreed.

"Then who are you, where do you come from and what do you want here?"
Then he shook his tail, it rocked our boat,
It filled our hearts with fear,
"You've dropped your anchor on me house, it's blocking up me door!
And the wife, the mermaid, she's trapped inside,
And my children can't get out no more."

[Chorus]
And the mermaids looked so beautiful,
As they swam around by the shore,
But this merman with his fishy tail,
I'd never seen before,
And sailors tell the tallest tales,
I never told a lie,
He'd a long green tail that could kill a whale,
That wobbled as he swam close by.

[Verse]
Well, we quickly hoisted anchor, boys ,
And the merman then did smile,
"Sure, me name is Patrick John O'Rourke, I came from Erin's Isle,
Was many years ago from now, I was shipwrecked on the reef,
When this pretty mermaid, she rescued me,
From the perils of the ocean deep."

"And we very soon were married, boys,
Down in the deep blue sea,
Now I'm happy and contented with me wife and family,
Though I oft times wished I could go home and live on Ireland's shore,
I'm committed to the ocean deep;
I can't go home again no more."

[Chorus]
And the mermaids looked so beautiful,
As they swam around by the shore
But this merman with his fishy tail,
I'd never seen before,
And sailors tell the tallest tales,
I never told a lie
He'd a long green tail that could kill a whale,
That wobbled as he swam close by.

[Chorus]
And the mermaids looked so beautiful,
As they swam around by the shore,
But this merman with his fishy tail,
I'd never seen before,
And sailors tell the tallest tales,
I never told a lie,
He'd a long green tail that could kill a whale,
That wobbled as he swam close by.