"The Ballad of Surf and Turf" lyrics and music by Benjamin Newman / G - D Em / C - G - / C - G Em / C - G D / Alone on her rock, she was bound to the sea, For the land she could touch only here, On this speck of a speck the tide only reveals At this phase of the moon, at this time of the year. / G - D Em / C - D - / G D C G / C - D G / And I swore to her then I would make her my wife, So bright was the moon in her smile. I said, "This might take more than a year and a day; Working out all the details could take me a while!" So all the next year and the two after that, I waded through books of old lore, To find out how to free one who's bound to the sea So that she'd follow me and come home to the shore. But the books all said "No, she cannot be estranged From the sea she was born to ensoul." But, if not her fate, maybe her rock could be changed? And as soon as I thought this, I made it my goal. So three years or so later I sailed back to say That I'd finally come up with a plan. And the mermaid looked up and said, "You must be nuts, But you sure are a very determined young man!" I went back to my fishing, and back to my books, And after much study I found And old spell that would do what I wanted it to, But if I saw it through then I, too, would be bound... Four more years had gone by when I finally sailed back With a few extra trousers and shirts, And my fishing gear, kitchenware, mystical books, And a couple of buckets of very rich dirt. The mermaid watched on with the moon in her eyes As I sprinkled the dirt on the stone, And said, "This rock may be the one place you can land, But I promise you'll never more land here alone!" Then I chanted the words of the spell that I'd learned, And an island rose out of the foam; And the mermaid walked out of the sea to my side, And together we made the new island our home. In the midst of the sea I am bound to my rock, For I promised this island my life, Dropping out of the race to be soul of a place, For the soul of its sea is my love and my wife.