Parody of “Captain Jack and the Mermaid”, words and music by
Meg Davis
For
more information
and other parodies, see
www.songworm.com
Reprinted from
Songworm 2
Parody lyrics ©1989-07-04 by Bob Kanefsky. All rights reserved. The copyright of the original lyrics and music remain with the holder(s) of the original copyright.
Copyright © 1989 by Bob Kanefsky, Firebird Arts and Music Inc.
After Captain Jack and the Mermaid by Meg Davis
I wrote this after hearing other parodies of the song, first by Jane Mailander and then by Lee Gold. I love the original, of course. That’s true of almost all my parodies. But I identified so much with Captain Jack in its original form (all right, so maybe I thought blacksmith where it said lady ) that I never would have had the perspective to parody it until I heard Jane’s hilarious parody. I had swallowed the original, hook, line, and sinker. Thanks, Jane, for removing the scales from my eyes.
| Captain | A Jack | was a young man when | D he | went to | A sea | . |
| ( | A All | the young ladies, go and | D kiss | him good | A bye | ) |
| He was | A sort | ing his life out, at | D twen | ty and three. |
| ( | A Oh | , tell him, young ladies, go and | D tell | him for | A me | , |
| He can | E mar | ry the mermaid that lives in the | A sea | .) |
Captain Jack had proposed to a lady he knew
(All the young ladies, go and kiss him goodbye)
As all men of his age were expected to do.
(Oh, tell him, young ladies, go and tell him for me,
He can marry the mermaid that lives in the sea.)
But he sailed with his ship full of fine, strong young men
(All the young ladies, go and kiss him goodbye)
For he knew once he’d wed he’d not see them again.
(Oh, tell him, young ladies, go and tell him for me,
He can marry the mermaid that lives in the sea.)
| With | Am trust | ed old comrades from | G jour | neys gone | Am by | , |
| And two or three untested sailors to | E7 try | , |
| He | Am sailed | one last time from his | G fi | ance’s | Am arms | , |
| For | Am three | years va | G ca | tion from | E7 wo | manly | Am charms | . |
Now, one novice sailor exceeded his hopes:
He was strong, and quick-witted, and good with the ropes.
And a man’s man was all that he wanted to be,
Like many who choose to spend months out at sea.
Jack talked with the sailor for hours on end.
One day, he quietly reached for his friend.
With an arm ’round his shoulders, he led him away.
And they stayed in his cabin the whole frigging day.
Next morning, as Jack and his shipmate stood there,
With the sun on their backs and the wind in their hair,
Jack said I will miss the old life that I’ve had.
I should never have listened to Mother and Dad!
I’m engaged to a lady who lives on the land.
But my life as a sailor is ever so grand!
If I only were free of my promise to her,
I would stay here with you and the life I prefer.
My friend, you’re well loved by each man in your crew.
And you know they’ll do just what you order them to.
And the land folk believe all our old sailor’s lore.
It was problems like this we invented them for.
So Jack told the crew, and was warmly received.
And few were surprised, but a lot were relieved.
And they greeted the news with a great hearty cheer,
So he knew in his heart he had nothing to fear.
He said, How could I leave such a fine, loyal crew?
But there’s one little favor I beg you to do.
Won’t you go to my lady and give her this spiel.
I promise she’ll swallow it, hook, line and reel.
Tell her something has happened to young Captain Jack.
(All the young ladies, go and kiss him goodbye)
He’s remaining at sea, and he’s not coming back.
Oh, tell her, me laddies, go and tell her for me,
That I married a mermaid who lives in the sea.
The chords given above are the ones Barry Gold uses (for the original and any of the umpteen parodies). Meg Davis sings the major-key part acapella and accompanies the minor-key part with the following chords, using a weird tuning, DADGBE.
D Dsus2 D Dsus2 Dm Dsus2 Dm
| D With | Dm trust | ed old | C com | rades from | Am jour | neys gone | Dm by | , |
| And | F two | or three untested sailors to | A try | , |
| He | Dm sailed | one last | C time | from his | Am fi | ance’s | Dm arms | , |
| For three years vac | G a | tion from | F wom | an | Am ly | Dm charms | . |
