The Dutchman
Steve Goodman

CAPO 4th Fret
Play individual notes on 4th string

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

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

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

G   (Gb)   (E)   (D)   G