The Dutchman (song)

 The Dutchman is a song written by Michael Peter Smith in 1968 and popularized by Liam Clancy, Brendan Grace and Steve Goodman. At the time Smith wrote the song, he had never visited the Netherlands.

The song is about an elderly couple living in Amsterdam, Margaret and the title character. The unnamed Dutchman is senile, and Margaret cares for him with a sadness over what has happened to him over the years. It is a story of unconditional love.

The song has been covered by Steve Goodman, Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem, Brendan Grace Bernard Wrigley, John Gorka, Suzy Bogguss, Norm Hacking, Anne Hills, John McDermott (No. 18 Canada), The New Kingston Trio, The Shaw Brothers, Gamble Rogers, Tom Russell, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert James Waller, Cashman & West, Josh White Jr., Woods Tea Company, Keith Harkin, Celtic Thunder, David Soul, The Quiggs, Danny Doyle, The High Kings, Tom Hoglund, Del Suggs, and Bob Louisell. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

The Dutchman's not the kind of man
Who keeps his thumb jammed in the dam
That holds his dreams in
That's a secret that only Margaret knows

When Amsterdam is golden in the summer
Margaret brings him breakfast
She believes him
He thinks tulips bloom beneath the snow
He's mad as he could be
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 Zuiderzee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
Dear Margaret remembers that for me

The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes
And 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
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 Zuiderzee
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
And they sit in the kitchen
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew

And he sees her for a moment, he calls her name
And she makes the bed up
Singing some old love song
She learned it when it was very new

He hums a line or two
They hummed together in the dark
The Dutchman falls asleep
Margaret blows the candles out

Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee
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 Zuiderzee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me