Okkervil River – Mermaid tab
Chords:
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] 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