XTC
Mermaid Smiled
[Verse 1]
From pools of xylophone clear
From caves of memory
I saw the children at heart
That we once used to be
Borne on foaming seahorse herd

Compose with trumpeting shell
From lines across their hands
A song as new as new moon
As old as all the sands

[Chorus]
Shrank to stagnant from Atlantic wild
Lost that child 'til mermaid smiled

[Verse 2]
Summoned by drum rolling surf
As laughing fish compel
The young boy woken in me
By clanging diving bell
Breakers pillow-fight the shore

She wriggles free in the tide
I'm locked in adult land
Back in the mirror she slides
Waving with comb in hand
[Chorus]
I was lucky to remain beguiled
Grown to child since mermaid smiled