The Dutchman
Steve Goodman

 
C                                  
The Dutchman's not the kind of man 
                                      
Who keeps his thumb jammed in the dam 
Dm 
That holds his dreams in, 
G                             C               
But that's a secret that only Margaret knows. 
C          
When Amsterdam is golden in the summer, 
          
Margaret brings him breakfast, 
Dm 
She believes him. 
G                           C 
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow. 
            F              G             C         C B   Am 
He's mad as he can be, but Margaret only sees that sometimes, 
              F               G               C 
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes. 

 
Chorus:
       F                      Em 
Let us go to the banks of the ocean 
           F           G               C 
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee. 
     Dm A   G            C        C B  Am 
Long ago, I used to be a young man 
         F          G                C 
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.
 
 
C 
The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes, 
 
His cap and coat are patched with the love 
Dm 
That Margaret sewed there. 
G                                 C 
Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam. 
C 
And he watches the tug-boats down canals 
                                        Dm 
An' calls out to them when he thinks he knows the Captain. 
     G 
Till Margaret comes 
            C 
To take him home again 
             Dm                  G         C C        C B       Am A 
Through unforgiving streets that trip him, though she holds his arm, 
             F           G                      C 
Sometimes he thinks he's alone and he calls her name. 
 
 
 
Repeat Chorus 
 
 
C 
The winters whirl the windmills 'round 
 
She winds his muffler tighter 
         Dm 
And they sit in the kitchen. 
G                                    C 
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew. 
C 
And he sees her for a moment, calls her name, 
                             Dm 
She makes the bed up singing some old love song, 
G 
A song Margaret learned 
            C 
When it was very new. 
          Dm           G                  C C     C B    Am   
He hums a line or two, they sing together in      the    dark. 
             F                G              C    
The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out. 
 
 
 
Repeat Chorus