Poor old Paul Pengelly, a fisherman by trade
His heart was pure and gentle, but one mistake he made
He flirted with a mermaid out in Seaton Bay
He watched her dance, and it all went wrong that day
That morning, at the first light the seine boats put to sea
The pilchard out there topping for all the world to see
And as the men were netting the mermaid came to view
He watched her dance, but he knew he shouldn't do
It's the way of the ocean, the code of the sea
The sound of the siren, the right of the free
As the nets were gathered, the mermaid she was caught
Along with twenty thousand fish, she struggled and she fought
Pengelly to her rescue, he cut the siren free
He watched her dance as she swam back out to sea
But she cursed him for her capture, put a hex upon the land
And as she rolled, her spell took hold and the town was deep in sand
Poor old Paul Pengelly, he freed her from the net
But she would drown old Seaton town, lest he should forget
It's the way of the ocean, the code of the sea
The sound of the siren, the right of the free