The Dutchman

The Dutchman's not the kind of man To keeps his thumb jammed in the dam That holds his dreams in But that's a secret that only Margaret knows When Amsterdam is cold 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 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 An' calls out to them when he thinks he knows the Captain 'Til 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 Zuider Zee Long ago, I used to be a young man And dear Margaret remembers that for me The windmills swore a wintering She winds his muffler tighter They sit in the kitchen Tea with whiskey keeps away the dew He sees her for a moment, calls her name She makes his bed up humming some old love song She learned when that you was very new He hums a line or two, they hum together in the night The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out 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 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