Lyrics:

The Dutchman's not the kind of man who keeps his thumb jammed
In the dam that holds his dreams in
But that's a secret that only Margaret knows;
When Amsterdam is golden in the summer,
Margaret brings him breakfast; she believes him.
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow;
He's mad as he could 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
And he watches the tugboats down canals
And 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 winters whirl the windmills round, she winds his muffler tighter
And they sit in the kitchen
Some tea with whisky keeps away the dew
And he sees her for a moment, calls her name, and she makes the bed up singing
Some old love song
A song Margaret learned when it was very new
He hums a line or two
They sing together in the dark
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