"The Mermaid" is a song about a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

falling in love with a mermaid, but despairs because the mermaid has fish parts below her waist. It was written by

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

and recorded on his album ''I'm So Good That I Don't Have to Brag'', in 1965. In December 1966, "The Mermaid" was published in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine while Silverstein was a regular contributor.

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City", and " 500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Earl ...

released a version on his 1973 album ''Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies''. It was covered in 2005 by

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scott ...

, who released their version on their CD ''

The Hard and the Easy ''The Hard and The Easy'' is the seventh studio album by Great Big Sea. It was released on October 11, 2005 in Canada and October 25, 2005 in the US. It reached gold status by October 25, 2005. The album is a compilation of traditional Newfound ...

''.

Glenn Yarbrough Glenn Robertson Yarbrough (January 12, 1930 – August 11, 2016) was an American folk music, folk singer and guitarist. He was the tenor lead singer of the Limeliters from 1959 to 1963 and also had a prolific solo career. Yarbrough had a res ...

also sings a version on his 1966 album ''Live at the Hungry I''.

References

Shel Silverstein CD
Shel Silverstein songs 1965 songs Songs written by Shel Silverstein {{1960s-song-stub Great Big Sea songs