The Dutchman

:For other uses of the Dutchman, see the Dutchman (disambiguation)

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The Dutchman is a European folk song. Originally written by Michael Peter Smith in 1968 (and popularised by Steve Goodman), it is regarded as the most popular folk song ever written next to The Answer is Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan.

Related Topics:
Europe - Michael Peter Smith - Steve Goodman - The Answer is Blowing in the Wind - Bob Dylan

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Lyrics

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The Dutchman's not the kind of man

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To keep his thumb jammed in the dam

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That holds his dreams in

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But that's a secret only Margaret knows

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When Amsterdam is golden in the morning

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Margaret brings him breakfast

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She believes him

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He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow

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He's mad as he can be but Margaret only sees that sometimes

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Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes

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(chorus)

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Let us go to the banks of the ocean

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Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee

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Long ago, I used to be a young man

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And dear Margaret remembers that for me

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The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes

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His cap and coat are patched with love

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That Margaret sewed in

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Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam

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He watches tugboats down canals

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And calls out to them when he thinks he knows the Captain

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Til Margaret comes to take him home again

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Through unforgiving streets

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That trip him though she holds his arm

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Sometimes he thinks that he's alone and calls her name

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(chorus)

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The windmills whirl the winter in

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She winds his muffler tighter,

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They sit in the kitchen

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Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew

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He sees her for a moment, calls her name

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She makes the bed up humming some old love song

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She learned it when the tune was very new

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He hums a line or two, they hum together in the night

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The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out.

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(chorus)

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