[Intro]
Yo ho, here's a tale
That's near and dear to the hearts of those who sail
'Bout a lighthouse keeper and his mermaid wife
Who joined together for a different life
Yo ho, the winds and waters tell this tale

[Verse 1]
My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light
He married a mermaid one fine night
From this union there came three
A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me

[Chorus]
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free
Oh, for a life on the rolling sea

[Verse 2]
Late one night, I was trimming the glim
While singing a verse from the evening hymn
A voice from starboard shouted "Ahoy!"
And there was my mother, sitting on a buoy

[Chorus]
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free
Oh, for a life on the rolling sea
[Verse 3]
"Tell me what has become of my children three?"
My mother she did ask of me
One was exhibited as a talking fish
The other was served on a chafing dish

[Chorus]
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free
Oh, for a life on the rolling sea

[Verse 4]
Then the phosphorous flashed in her seaweed hair
I looked again, and my mother wasn't there
A voice came echoing out of the night
"To Hell with the keeper of the Eddystone Light"

[Chorus]
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free
Oh, for a life on the rolling sea

[Outro]
Yo ho, yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho
Yo ho