The first steps that I took on shore
Were really a surprise
The pain was like I danced on knives
On blades and broken glass
The sand was warm, and soft and white
But all I felt was pain
I couldn’t even cry aloud
No sound in me remained

I begged the witch for just a chance
To find the prince I loved
I gave my voice to be with him
And dance with him above
She never told the other price
Of walking on the land
And the pain of leaving footprints in the sand

I am dancing for the prince, as light as air
I am floating like a bubble with a rainbow in my hair
And I try to make him see that I was the one
That the maid who saved him from the storm
Is me
But he does not see
And each step hurts me
cutting me, slicing me all through the night
And the prince chooses another for his bride

The last steps that I take on shore
Will fade with mornings breeze
The pain will stop as I dissolve
in to the cold brown sea
Not a mermaid any more
Just foam upon the wave
I couldn’t kill the prince that I had saved

If I had plunged my dagger in
and killed him in his sleep
A mermaid I’d return to be
A price that was too steep
I threw the dagger over board
Then kissed his lips and face
Then silently dove deep
Without a trace

And now I’m dissolving
Into foam on the ocean
Till I feel loving arms
Draw me high in the sky!

I am dancing for the prince, as light as air
I am floating like a bubble with a rainbow in my hair
He looked down and said he saw I was the one!
The the maid who saved men from the storm
Whose love could not bring them to harm
Deserves a second chance
He lifts me up to dance
As we sing together, spirits of the air