Try these changes. I play it along with the album and it sounds right.
The intro progression is somewhat different, but I think it's just an
E-A-B-A kind of thing. Let me know if you think this is better.
Liz Myers
You told me tales of love and glory
Same old sad song, same old story
Sirens sing a lullaby
And no one knows but Lorelei
Castles out of fairy tales
Timbers shiver where once there sailed
A lovesick man who caught her eye
And no one knew but Lorelei
CHORUS: River, river have mercy
Take me down to the sea
For if I perish on these rocks
My love no more I'll see
I've thought of you in far-off places
Puzzled over lipstick traces
So help me God, I will not try
And then I think of Lorelei
I've traveled far and wandered wide
An old photograph of you beside me
Old Man River seems so shy (?)
And he remembers Lorelei
CHORUS
If I should float upon this stream
And see you in my madman's dream
I'd sink into your troubled eyes
And none would know save Lorelei
CHORUS: Oh, river river river have mercy...
But if my ship which sails tomorrow
Should crash against these rocks, my sorrows
I will drown, before I die
It's you I'll see, not Lorelei
I-I-I
Outro: (repeat & end on )