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Original lyrics
1 translation Amsterdam lyrics
In the port of Amsterdam where the wild seagulls fly
There’s a sailor who stands looking out past the sky
And the arch of his back and the thrust of his hip
Are as strong and as proud as a prow of a ship.
In the port of Amsterdam there is a sailor whose face
Is as withered and cracked as a cobble stoned street
And another whose face is as fair as the Christ
Who visits the sailors who rot in the deep
In the port of Amsterdam there are sailors in pairs
Whose only adventures are climbing upstairs
Just climbing up stairs and descending again
In houses and hotels from China to Main
In the port of Amsterdam there is a sailor I'm told
Who at twenty-six years looks withered and old
In the bellies of whores, he spilled out his youth
On the long run to nowhere in search of the truth
In the port of Amsterdam there’s a one-legged man
Who used to go sailing but no longer can
His tales of the sea grow wilder each year
As his guts sail along on the belly of beer
He yells at a sailor who’s sitting alone
For a bottle of beer, I'll follow you home
And we’ll find us some women who smell like a sea
Blond one for you and a black one for me
In the port of Amsterdam, I stood in the dawn
As accordion died and the daylight came on
I’ve seen the blank faces of sailors go by
Empty and wide like a wide-open sky
I cried to the God wherever he be
Who invites the young men to follow the sea
And leave them alone like a hollowed-out shell
Condemned to burn up on the seashores of hell
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
Goddamn Amsterdam
snorioTranslations of "Amsterdam"
Rod McKuen: Top 3
| 1. | Seasons in the Sun |
| 2. | If You Go Away (original version) |
| 3. | Amsterdam |
Comments
This is an english version of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam. This english version has its own value, although it has been changed significantly from the original.