the dutchman is 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 the tulips bloom beneath the snow he s mad as he can 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 zuider zee 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 margaret sewed there sometimes he thinks he s still in rotterdam he watches the 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 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 they sit in the kitchen some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew he sees her for a moment he calls her name she makes the bed up singing some old love song she learned it when the song was very new he hums a line or two they hum 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 zuider zee 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 zuider zee long ago i used to be a young man and dear margaret remembers that for me