The Dutchman Songtext
von Steve Goodman

The Dutchman′s not the kind of man
Who keeps his thumb jammed in the dam
That holds his dreams in
That's a secret that only Margaret knows

When Amsterdam is golden in the summer
Margaret brings him breakfast
She believes him
He thinks tulips bloom beneath the snow
He′s mad as he could be
Margaret only sees that sometimes
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes

Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
Dear Margaret remembers that for me

The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes
And his cap and coat are patched with the love
That Margaret sewed there
Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam


He watches tug-boats down canals and calls out to them
When he thinks he knows the Captain
Margaret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets that trip him, though she holds his arm
Sometimes he thinks he's alone and he calls her name

Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me

The winters whirl, the windmills ′round
She winds his muffler tighter
And they sit in the kitchen
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew

And he sees her for a moment, he calls her name
And she makes the bed up
Singing some old love song
She learned it when it was very new

He hums a line or two
They hummed together in the dark
The Dutchman falls asleep
Margaret blows the candles out


Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me

Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me