verse 1
Em
"Watch for the sailor," say frightened old ladies
Am
He's terrorizing the town
D
Handsome and sprightly though he's nearly ninety
Em
He's never slowing down
The language he'll use when he's been on the booze
Am D
The stories he'd tell, well, they'd never choose to listen
Em
But sometimes they glance at their husbands and sigh
D C D Em C D Em C D
For an old salt sea-dog who winks and gives them the eye
verse 2
Em
When we were in dock
C D Em C D
We'd flock where the whores go in Rotterdam
Em
In old navy blue
C D Em C D
We'd drink to a new love with every dram
C D
And the blousy hostesses in short frilly dresses
B7 Em
The young and old___
Am D
They'd seen it before, in peace and in war
Em
They'd been bought and sold
Am
And the bars never close
D G D Em
Till they've taken your money for rotgut booze
C
And your head hits the ground
D G D Em
And the world's spinning round in a game you lose
Am
And you cry out the pain
D G D Em
But you shell out again for another glass
F#7
And you pray that the morning will come
B B7
And the ache in your head will pass
Em C D X4
verse 3
Em
The ladies display
C D Em C D
Every day in the windows of Amsterdam
Em
Whatever your dream
C D Em C D
You're the cat with the cream when the shutters slam
C D
And the guilt that you feel when you find it's not real
B7 Em
Is an old, old friend
Am D
And you say, "Not again, well maybe, now and then"
Em
Will it never end?
Am
And the bars never close
D G D Em
Till they've taken your money for rotgut booze
C
And your head hits the ground
D G D Em
And the world's spinning round in a game you lose
Am
And you cry out the pain
D G D Em
But you shell out again for another glass
F#7
And you pray that the morning will come
B B7
And the ache in your head will pass
Em C D (X4)
verse 4
Em C
My salt sailor days are a haze
D Em C D
There's a red light to show the way
Em
When you're battered and bruised
C D Em C D
You forget who abused you, that's yesterday
C D
Here on the land with a glass in my hand
B7 Em
If a wish were mine
Am D
I'd be back on a ship and I'd take me a trip
Em
To the good old time
Am
Where the bars never close
D G D Em
Till they've taken your money for rotgut booze
C
And your head hits the ground
D G D Em
And the world's spinning round in a game you lose
Am
And you cry out the pain
D G D Em
But you shell out again for another glass
F#7
And you pray that the morning will come
B B7
And the ache in your head will pass
Em
For when we were in dock
C D Em
We'd flock where the whores go in Rotterdam, in Rotterdam, in Rotterdam