verse 1
C
The Dutchman's not the kind of man
To keep 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.
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.
verse 2
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
He watches tug-boats down canals
Dm
And' calls out to them when he thinks he knows the captain,
G C
Till Margaret comes 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.
Chorus
verse 3
C
The winter whirls 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
He sees her for a moment, calls her name,
Dm
She makes the bed up singing some old love song—
G C
She learned it when the tune 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.
Chorus