The Dutchman is a beautifully sad song about an old couple from Amsterdam. The old man is in the late stages of dementia and his wife, Margaret, remembers life on his behalf. One of the most profound lines in the song is, “sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes,” a line that Brian Adams would later use in a Robin Hood song. It was a song my mother loved, most likely because Margaret was the main character. (My Dad by the way, was sharp as a tack until the end – no parallel for him in the song). It’s a special song because I got to sing it with my sisters in the hospice room when Mom was in her final days over a decade ago. Last December I got a call from Dad. I just knew it would be the last time I’d talk to him. After our call, my sisters played this recording to him. Perhaps they get to listen to it together now.
Written by Chicagoan Michael Smith, it was presented to Liam Clancy who brought it into the Irish psyche where it remained. As they say in America, we are suckers for a sad song. The arrangement I do was completely lifted from fellow Dubliner Al Tinley. I lifted many of his songs in the 90s. Sorry Squid. It’s one of my favorite songs to play because it has a consistent baseline foundation where the thumb rocks back and forth between the low E and D while the fingers come out to play with the melody. Note, they don’t ‘play the melody,’ they come out to play with it, because that’s how it feels every time I play it. It’s as if the thumb is telling the fingers, “I’ve got this, go play.”
This version was recorded in Jesse Roe’s apartment on the north side of Chicago when I was 27 years old. I never tire of playing it.
Enjoy
Brian Ralph 