In response to a request for this song, here are the lyrics, chords
and some tablature for the * tab is somewhat simplified from the
way I actually play it (since I'm never exactly sure what my fingers are doing
when I'm fingerpicking) but it should get you started on a picking pattern. I
use barre forms of the Dm, G, and Em (barring the 5th, 3rd, and 7th fret,
respectively) in the verses and use the simpler forms in the * seems
to make the bass work out nicely. Finally, I apologize if I've misnamed the C
chords. I've given the forms, call them what you will.

Enjoy,
Denny Straussfogel


Chords:
        C               x32010
        C/A             x02010
        C9/B (?)        x20010

Intro and first two lines:
    C                   C/A
E|----------------0----------------0------|
B|--1----------------1--1--------------1--|
G|-------------0----------------0---------|
D|-------2-------------------2------------|
A|--3-------------------0-----------------|
E|----------------------------------------|
    ^          ^        ^       ^

  C9/B                   C/A
|-----------------0------------------0----|
|-1------------------1---1--------------1-|
|-----------0---------------------0-------|
|-------0--------------------2------------|
|-2----------------------0----------------|
|-----------------------------------------|
  ^         ^            ^        ^
  keeps his thumb jammed in the   dam  ..

    C                  C/A
    C9/B                      C6
Who keeps his thumb jammed in the dam
     Dm
That holds his dreams in
G                        C             C/A  C9/B  C/A
But that's a secret only Margret knows
     C            C/A
When Amsterdam is golden
       C9/B            C/A
in the summer, Margret brings him breakfast;
Dm
she believes him
G                            Em
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow
            Dm            G            Em
He's mad as he can be but Margret only sees that sometimes
              Dm              G               C      C7
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes

(Chorus:)
       F         G            Em
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
          Dm         G                C   C7
Where the walls rise above the Zeider Zee
      F     G            Em
Long ago, I used to be a young man
    Dm        G                C  C/A  C9/B  C/A
But Margret remembers that for me


His coat and cap are patched with
The love that Margret sewed there
Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam
He watches tugboats, down canals
And calls out to them when he thinks
He knows the captains
'Til Margret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets that trip him
Though she holds his arm
Sometimes he thinks that he's alone
And calls out her name.

(Chorus)

The windmills whirl the winter in
She winds his muffler tighter as they sit in the kitchen
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew
He sees her for a moment, calls her name
She makes the bed up singing some old love song
A song that Margret learned when it was very new
He hums a line or two, they sing together in the dark

(Chorus)