I’ve known and loved this song for over 40 years. I sang it every night to my daughters (along with Puff). Now sometimes I sing it to their children. The older I get, the more meaningful this song becomes to me. Thank you, Michael.

@maevemadden6871

4 жыл бұрын

Check out the Brendan Grace version. Beautiful and pure also.

Too many UK fans of this flawless lyric think Liam Clancy wrote it. In the US, they think Steve Goodman. While that's certainly a tribute to these deeply evocative performers, I'm relieved to have lived long enough to embarrassingly recently exit the latter group. Apologies and gratitude, Mr. Smith. Brilliantly done and RIP.

So sorry to hear of Michael's passing...I remember going to see him at folk club outside Chicago...after hearing Steve Goodman's cover of this song...then learning to play it...still feel it's one of the greatest folk songs of all!!! RIP, Michael 😪 BUT...the music lives on 🎶❣🎶❣🎶❣🎶❣🎶

One the very greatest American Songwriter's of our time sadly now gone, but never to be forgotten.

HOW WONDERFUL TO HEAR HIM TELL THE "BACKSTORY" OF THIS MARVELOUS SONG...AND SING IT...THIS IS "ONE FOR THE AGES"...THANK YOU!!!

Beautiful song! I love it! I'm a widow and miss my late husband.

I literally just burst into tears. My parents played this when I was a kid.

I never thought I'd have kids, but finally I did in my late 40s. I think his line about her seeing his unborn children in his eyes was subconsciously a major reason. Thank God for him.

@stevejohnston8543

8 ай бұрын

I’m in my fifties and haven’t given up yet

Beautiful Song. As a child we lived near a couple of Dutch Families. Great people . They liked my last name-lol { Holland } . Partied a few times with Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy. Great Guys.........very plain & down -to - earth. CHEERS

Michael taught me The Dutchman at The Flick Coffee House in Miami, Fl. and I've played it for over 40 years .. / Thanks Michael ...

@lawrencenewman615

5 жыл бұрын

that's where I first heard as well...1965

Decades old, this song. But could be an anthem for all those living with a partner with dementia. Not a tragedy, just two people who remember above all how to love.

Just. Beautiful. ❤

There's always something special about hearing a song you love performed by the person who wrote it.....especially a song for the ages like this one..... Truly a great post!

For many of us, this will always be a Steve Goodman tune. Saw him do it more than once.

Exquisitely written song❤️

Truly beautiful. Never tire of this song. What a treat to hear the author sing it!! Magic!!

Went to see him twice with my Dad in the early 2000's and I still get goosebumps during the last refrain when the audience starts singing. They always seem to do it with great reverence.

Love, when time has passed by. A wonderful, powerful, emotional song. Michael Peter Smith wrote it when he was young, and he had never been to Amsterdam. It made this aging guy cry a few tears.

I heard Michael sing this when he was quite a young man, in LA in the early 70s I think, at the Icehouse in Pasadena and other venues around LA. Beautiful even then..

What a great song. Thank you Michael Peter Smith for writing it. Isn't it wonderful how a wonderful song just comes through you and lives on for years and years as a classic. Bravo!

I'm so sorry to hear that Michael is very unwell just now. Blessings for your wonderful music - may you travel easily

On the Mount Rushmore of folk songs.

I think sometimes as a songwriter it all comes together and the result is a perfect song like this.

LOVE this! RIP Michael

Thank you Michael Peter Smith for this song! It's been a cover in my gigs for nearly 30 years. I do hope to keep it going with total appreciation and always give your name as the author... Just a beautiful piece! Played it for a community dinner just last month. Yup. Thank you...

Beautiful, he almost brings himself to tears. That's what the song does to me when I hear it and sing it.

@Zeckellin

5 жыл бұрын

You know it, Richard - same here. If I want to have a good cry, all I have to do is try and sing this song. The way Margaret takes care of him has me bawling away in no time - it's pretty embarrassing, I must say.

@markrush5013

3 жыл бұрын

by now he has played this song many hundreds of times...why would he cry? he is a performer..an actor ,if you will, on stage .

@richardperkins5046

3 жыл бұрын

@@markrush5013 I guess you don't read people very well.

Beautiful song - and the version with the most integrity. Michael Peter Smith - Come to Australia!!

Wow! Could listen to this guy forever! He's one of my top ten all-time performers to listen to ( and I'm an amateur entertainer all of my 70 yrs of life so I listen to a lot of performers and music)on my bucket List to see him perform live andhearhis stories as well Elsa Koczan

Can't hear it without a tear in my eye.

@jq5596

5 жыл бұрын

Same here

@Legnerps

3 жыл бұрын

or 2...

@LazyIRanch

Жыл бұрын

How do I get this lump outta my throat now?? 😭

@David-ig8of

Жыл бұрын

E'tu brute'

Beaytifulsong that will be sung for hundreds of years.

thru the threads of the mysterious musical universe many years ago david allen coe brought me here..

Sometimes, the gift is being able to write the music, and sometimes, the gift is being able to sing the song.

@raindog2262

4 жыл бұрын

And sometimes, it's a gift just to be able to hear it.

Great song from a master song-writer. He will be missed...

I cry like a baby everytime I hear this song, everytime I try to play it.

@markw4206

2 жыл бұрын

Same! Every dang time. :)

It's like if I wanted to get away from Michael Peter Smith and move on .. well it's like he always seems to somehow just come back to me. Just a great singer songwriter .. his voice ! and he's not too damn bad on guitar either. I've seen him play around here in Chicago more than a few times, and have more than a few of his albums (CD's). The man is just brilliant. What a gift for all of us to enjoy !

@nbenefiel

8 жыл бұрын

my memories of him go back to the late 60's. Dear Margaret remembers that for me

@Imissthepostoffice

6 жыл бұрын

Margaret is neat ! I wish that all of us would have such a person.

@gerardluif1158

6 жыл бұрын

Being 85 I've a girl like that!

A beautiful, wonderful, love song.

Awesome - good to see you David :)

So a magical Song. ....thank Michael

As an Irish man who has always listened to Liam Clancys version I can't believe it was you who wrote this. Well done sir. Thanks for writing such a beautiful song.

@sharonsurbaugh-painter5164

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you deeply, Mr.Smith, for writing an All~Time Classic LOVE song. . . one of THE best ever!! I must claim our fellow Chicagoan, Stevie Goodman, as my ALL-TIME, HeartSong version, though! ~next to your's. . . It must be a Chicago thing. . .with all due respect to Mr.Clancy. . .STEVE GOODMAN 4ever 🎸

Love!

I Love this song , it speaks to getting old and never forgetting what true love is

@Imissthepostoffice

6 жыл бұрын

I wish we all had a Margaret.

thank you for a great song

I love love love this song. Stevie Goodman's version is my favorite... though they are all great. Had the great fortune to know Steve. We spent some time together in Athens Georgia when he was there performing at "The Last Resort". Such a great talent and great person.

@ttwillow9073

6 жыл бұрын

Lucky you. I sure miss Steve Goodman

@edcasey9738

5 жыл бұрын

Steve Goodman version is best.

@olivetg1

5 жыл бұрын

aka Cool Hand Leuk

I worked as a priest for twenty´three years in Holland (now in Mexico) and this reminds me of real people...

Many happy memories of hearing this song in the pubs in Westport.

It is true, Life creates music and music creates life. Great song, wonderful story...

I 1st heard this song and loved it when I was still a young man ...but now it really gets to me.

As I get older I cry every time I hear it, especially by Anne Hills and Michael.

@Imissthepostoffice

8 жыл бұрын

+Paul Lubin I have the CD. Actually, I could have done without Anne Hills. She was fine and all, but seemed to override Michael with her overpowering voice. (And I've seen them both live, too). Somehow, at least for me, Michael's voice is all I needed to get the point across.

@Imissthepostoffice

6 жыл бұрын

no need to cry . pass it on. all of us are getting older at the same pace. never feel distant. none of us likes it, but let's all sing together. Okay ?

Great story about a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.

Love this presentation by Michael Peter Smith. Saw him do a similar cover (wonderful) here, several times in the past 10 years or so.

A very emotive song, I love it! Love at its'purist!

Lovely song. Wonderful performance.

beautiful the best version I ever heard

What a great song, sometime you just stumble on to it a fall in love with it. This is just such a song...Wonder if I'm reflecting on my young years?

The Dutchman, beautiful song . I look forward to seeing you at the house concert on Feb 17th.

BRAVO Best tribute to Liam from a very talented writer

Incredible! Thank you!!

Lovely song

Great job. I love this song.

As an ecstatic immigrant to Vermont and new warehouse manager for the then Independent Music distributor, Silo/Alcazar Records, picking LP orders to ship across the USA, I inevitably got to listen to many of the recordings. There used to be a show on the BBC in England called Desert Island Discs where well known people chose, and had played, their 10 favorite recordings. I would have to cheat and take the entire collections,Time and Michael Smith both with me. I'd insist it only count for 2 !

Magnificent,...this is going in my repertoire

Thanks for sharing this David, it's wonderful.

Great story!

Of all the great songs ever written, this one is probably the most realistic in terms of humanity. Steve Goodman's album version is the best rendition of it I've heard.

Great song

Wonderful song..............

@Imissthepostoffice

7 жыл бұрын

brilliant

R.I.P dear sir.

“The Dutchman” has been one of, if not the powerful and meaningful songs for me for reasons sad and beautiful 40 years long. So I hate to admit this but I always thought it was a Steve Goodman tune.

@davidrumpler5528

3 жыл бұрын

Don't worry.... a lot of people still think that Arlo Guthrie wrote “City of New Orleans”....its funny how these things work😊

I did something impromptu tonight related to this song. I juxtaposed Dutchman with Daisy a Day, replacing the chorus of Daisy with that from the Dutchman. Try it, you will be surprised how well they fit. Both are in C Major.

I woke up thinking about this song. I think my first exposure was from Steve Goodman's recording that I stole on Napster. It is one of my favorite songs ever and it frustrates me that I haven't even thought of it for years. I last covered it on KZread ten years ago. I'll do it again, maybe today. I can't do all that fancy finger picking but I'll strum it and sing it like the Steve Goodman version that I first heard with the multiple guitars.

Great song with a lot of wonderful versions here on KZread. Listen to Jerry Jeff Walker.

Ewan McColl wrote "Dirty Old Town" about his home town Salford, near Manchester. Lots of towns have old canals and gaswork walls, so the song has been variously claimed by Derry, Dublin and Belfast and no one really minds. Dublin used to have the nickname "Dirty Dublin" - no longer deserved by the way. Phil Coulter's song "The Town I loved so Well" is definitely about Derry.

Nice.

I was turned onto your music by TFIA and played guitar on their version of "Dead Egyptian Blues." When Ezra played this song for me the first time, I cried unabashed tears. You're a most remarkable songwriter, Mr. Smith and I'd really love to hear from you if possible!

@DavidBeede

5 жыл бұрын

Rick Gordon , David Beede here. I made this video of Michael at a house concert. I doubt he checks it for comments, but he does have a FaceBook page. You might try messaging him there.

@RicksTastyLicks

5 жыл бұрын

@@DavidBeede I'll see if I can hunt Michael up on FB. My comment was a hail mary pass and I hoped someone might catch it:) Thanks so much for the info and the suggestion.

Love Steve Goodman;s version--but this is slightly better

Wonderful tune. Listen also to Steve Goodman's version.

@richardperkins5046

3 жыл бұрын

I have, many times. Jerry Jeff Walker does a decent version too.

@markw4206

2 жыл бұрын

Also John Gorka. Very good one.

Wonderful performance of a marvellous song. I love the before and after comments. Go into any pub in Ireland and ask can anyone sing this song. Just about everybody will belt out the chorus; however most will struggle with the verse as the melody here is quite subtle. Irish people like claiming songs as being traditional old songs. For example most Irish people think that Ewan MacColl's song Dirty Old Town is about Dublin, whereas it was actually written about Salford in England

@theresakennedy893

5 жыл бұрын

No one sang the Dutch man like Liam Clancy , god rest him

@claoftheninesausages

5 жыл бұрын

and Tony, everyone will know the chorus of Dirty Old Town but very few will know the verse even though they think it's a Dublin song but The Dutchman is an absolute classic.

Great cover of this beautiful song by Bob Shane - performed live with The New Kingston Trio (Lost Masters 1967-1972). Check it out on KZread; it's my favorite rendition.

Bless you, dadama925, Forewarned is forearmed. I've never heard "A Daisy A Day" but still, believe me, I SO hope I never have to listen to this.

1:45 start

Hmmmm. I always thought Dirty Old Town was about Derry City, Ireland.

all of us old men know its coming. . .

Do yourself a favor and listen to Steve Goodman version C

@DavidBeede

Жыл бұрын

I've heard Goodman's version and I appreciate it. However I heard Michael play it first and in addition to gravitating to the writer's interpretations of their own work, I notice I/we have a tendency to feel the first version of a song we hear performed is the "right" way to play it. Humans are funny that way. Plus, I like the funny back story.

One thing that could have given credibility to the "shell-shocked" theory is the mention of Rotterdam, which was heavily bombed by the Nazis in 1940.

When you s

Better not listen to versions of Steve Goodman and Liam Clancy

@bmwldr

10 жыл бұрын

Why is that? All versions are different and may appeal to different tastes. I had the privilege of seeing Steve perform this live and his version is still a favorite. But, I like hearing other versions as well. I love hearing from the actual writer of the song.

@henharro

10 жыл бұрын

Liam's story to it is ridicolous pathetic and added falsely, Steve's version is much too fast and not hitting the sense of this beautiful song

@bmwldr

10 жыл бұрын

I agree about Liam's back story, not so much about your opinion of Steve's version. To each our own!

I watched the Clancy's version (referring to the dutchman as being shell-shocked). Yea, I agree it puts a negative take on the song .. takes away from the substance and beauty of the song. And especially, somehow degrades the character of the dutchman.

Pissant