Capo 1 or 3
The Dutchman's not the kind of man
To keep his thumb jammed in the dam
That holds his dreams in,
But that's a secret only Margaret knows.
When Amsterdam is golden, in the morning
Margaret brings him breakfast.
She believes him.
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow.
He's mad as he can be, but Margaret only sees that sometimes,
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes
Chorus:
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.
The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes,
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.
Till Margaret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets that trip him
though she holds his arm,
Sometimes he thinks he's alone, he calls her name.
Chorus:
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
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
As they sit in the kitchen.
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew.
He sees her for a moment, calls her name,
She makes the bed up singing some old love song,
She learned it when the song was very new
He hums a line or two, they sing together in the dark
The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out.
Chorus:
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.