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This tune is a favorite around the camp file and especially of Eberwulf. The lyrics are an English version of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam as sung by David Bowie on 'Bowie at the Beeb - the best of the BBC sessions 68-72'.
after David Bowie
Port of Amsterdam, The
by Jacques Brel
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam, there's a [Em] sailor who sings
Of the [F] dreams that he brings from a [E] wide open sea
And in the [Am] port of Amsterdam there's a [Em] sailor who sleeps
While the [F] river bank [E7] weeps to the [Am] old willow tree
And in the [C] port of Amsterdam there's a [G7] sailor who [E7] dies
Full of [Am] beers full of cries in a [E7] drunken down fight
And in the [F] port of Amsterdam there's a [Em] sailor who is born
On the [Dm7] hot muggy [E7] morn by the [Am] dawns early light
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam where the [Em] sailors all meet
There's a [F] sailor who eats only [E] fish heads and tails
He'll [Am] show you his teeth that have [Em] rotted too soon
That can [F] haul up the [E7] sails that can [Am] swallow the moon
And he'll [C] yell to the cook with his [G7] arms open [E7] wide
Oh [Am] bring me more fish though it's [E7] down by my side
And he [F] wants so to belch but he's [Em] too full to try
So he [Dm7] stands up and [E7] laughs and he [Am] zips up his fly
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam you can [Em] see sailors dance
Paunches [F] bursting their pants grinding [E] women's with paunch (?)
They've for-[Am] gotten the tune that their [Em] whiskey voice croaks
[F] Splitting the [E7] night with the [Am] roar of their jokes
And they [C] turn and they dance and they [G7] laugh and they [E7] lust
Till the [Am] rancid sound of the ac- [E7] cordion bursts
And then [F] out of the night with their [Em] pride in their pants
And the [Dm7] slut that they [E7] tow under- [Am] neath the street lamps
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam there's a [Em] sailor who drinks
And he [F] drinks and he drinks, and he [E] drinks once again
Oh he [Am] drinks to the health of the [Em] whores of Amsterdam
Who have [F] given their [E7] bodies to a [Am] thousand other men
It's their [C] worth and their goodness; their [G7] virtues all [E7] gone
For the [Am] few dirty coins when he [E7] just can't go on
Throws his [F] nose to the sky and he [Em] aims it up above
And he [Dm] pisses like I [E7] cry for an [Am] unfaithful love
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam
In the [Em] port of [Dm] Am- [E7] ster- [Am] dam
Of the [F] dreams that he brings from a [E] wide open sea
And in the [Am] port of Amsterdam there's a [Em] sailor who sleeps
While the [F] river bank [E7] weeps to the [Am] old willow tree
And in the [C] port of Amsterdam there's a [G7] sailor who [E7] dies
Full of [Am] beers full of cries in a [E7] drunken down fight
And in the [F] port of Amsterdam there's a [Em] sailor who is born
On the [Dm7] hot muggy [E7] morn by the [Am] dawns early light
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam where the [Em] sailors all meet
There's a [F] sailor who eats only [E] fish heads and tails
He'll [Am] show you his teeth that have [Em] rotted too soon
That can [F] haul up the [E7] sails that can [Am] swallow the moon
And he'll [C] yell to the cook with his [G7] arms open [E7] wide
Oh [Am] bring me more fish though it's [E7] down by my side
And he [F] wants so to belch but he's [Em] too full to try
So he [Dm7] stands up and [E7] laughs and he [Am] zips up his fly
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam you can [Em] see sailors dance
Paunches [F] bursting their pants grinding [E] women's with paunch (?)
They've for-[Am] gotten the tune that their [Em] whiskey voice croaks
[F] Splitting the [E7] night with the [Am] roar of their jokes
And they [C] turn and they dance and they [G7] laugh and they [E7] lust
Till the [Am] rancid sound of the ac- [E7] cordion bursts
And then [F] out of the night with their [Em] pride in their pants
And the [Dm7] slut that they [E7] tow under- [Am] neath the street lamps
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam there's a [Em] sailor who drinks
And he [F] drinks and he drinks, and he [E] drinks once again
Oh he [Am] drinks to the health of the [Em] whores of Amsterdam
Who have [F] given their [E7] bodies to a [Am] thousand other men
It's their [C] worth and their goodness; their [G7] virtues all [E7] gone
For the [Am] few dirty coins when he [E7] just can't go on
Throws his [F] nose to the sky and he [Em] aims it up above
And he [Dm] pisses like I [E7] cry for an [Am] unfaithful love
In the [Am] port of Amsterdam
In the [Em] port of [Dm] Am- [E7] ster- [Am] dam