`` we 'd go down to the beach , and walk along it , and he 'd be as embarrassing as any human being on the face of this planet has ever been - he 'd start singing , and he 'd start doing a shuffling sort of sand-dance on the sand , and he 'd just talk to people as he went - people he did n't even know , people he 'd never met , and i hated it , except he told me there were mermaids out there in the atlantic , and if i looked fast enough and sharp enough , i 'd see one. ``