The Drowning Mermaid

Capo II
D                             C              G               D
I met him at the tatoo parlor, all hick'ry smoke and golden hair;
     C                G                              D
So tragic in his BVDs, I had to fall for him right there.
     G                                 bm
I recall the day that he moved in the sky was pouring rain,
      em                                  G                    bm
Same week he moved that big old hunk of granite to the gallery.
(bm)                                 G
Now the good times lead to bad; sometimes a man must fall,
       A                                     bm
And a woman in love has to give him what she can.
     em                             A
But Jonah wanted my immortal soul -
                 G      D
Isn't that just like a man?

Chorus:
(G)                 D              A                D
Like all the other needle-jocks I loved him for his art;
bm                            em             A
Jonah was my lover, though I fear he had no human heart.
            G                      D
But when November comes whistlin' round the bend
                     F#
I know he's waiting still
         G               D             G    A      D
At the Drowning Mermaid Tatoo Parlor, Gallery, & Grill.


He brought me egg rolls every day for lunch;
	Love is made of times like these.
Nights in each other's arms, we'd listen to the river 
	through the trees
And make sweet harmony;
But Jonah took to rovin', and then we took to fightin'.
While that big old hunk of granite sat half-finished 
	in the gallery.
The nights that he came home he came home stinking 
	like the river,
With his mouth all dripping red;
I tell you there's so many times that a woman will turn her head.

CHORUS
Then that old woman came to town with her eyes so bright and pink
	- and it made me shiver
When she said, "You're the first gal Jonah's ever had didn't 
	drown herself in drink or the river."
'Spose I could've made a stand - that old gal couldn't understand
Why I had to leave, and leave for good:
If true love couldn't kill that boy, silver bullets never would.

C                                 D
I left town on a chilly morning Greyhound -
                    bm                                   em    G
The sky was bight October, but my heart was filled with rain.
(G)                       bm 
The Mermaid dwindled to a mem'ry
                         em                    A
And this ring that Jonah gave me on a silver chain.

Final Chorus:
(G)             D                    A                D
Like you I was just like them and I loved him for his art;
bm                            em             A
Jonah was my lover, though I fear he had no human heart.
            G                      D
But when November comes whistlin' round the bend
                   F#
I see him waiting still
              G               D             G    A     bm
Outside the Drowning Mermaid Tatoo Parlor, Gallery, & Grill.
(bm)                                 G           A     D
Though I still dream of going back, god knows I never will.