We used to go down by the old dock To wait for the boats to pass by In Amsterdam's last nook With our old hand gloves That kept the last inch of our old selves attached to our bodies And the air was fresh Filling our lungs with aromatic daytime The buildings leaped out of the river Making the horizon line a thin slip above us And we came alone To Amsterdam To the handsome port here Just to get some chips in a cone
In the Afternoon when the fog had gone and the cold had warmed We went for a long walk Just on our own Through the city Along the Canals My lord It was beautiful to see it all so clearly The floating tops of great cathedrals And slanted open top house boats We even rented out bikes Saw the streets by night Felt the chilly winds return But in bed felt the warm ironed sheets beneath us And we came once a year To Amsterdam To The constricted Canals Just to get some chips in a Cone
But we did go home of course Well you did I though, never left those days we spent In the golden light of the canal-side winter markets You moved on and called it a thing that we used to do when we were young When we had more time than sense I still remember it as if it was yesterday Us in a peddle boat Passing the Frank's old place With that love of the past And of just silence And we came with each other To Amsterdam To the storm of riverside cyclists Just to get some chips in a cone
I'll never forget them Those chips in a cone we had At least seven times a trip We'd go up to the stand by the canal And not worry about our health for once This was more important It was the chips in a cone that brought us together And the taste of such a simple thing still makes me smile I remember the last and final time we went Just before we had our first son It was the night before we left And I went up to the woman in the chip in a cone stand One more order One last chips in a cone It was all I had come for So simple but such a milestone The end to my youth And we left with each other From Amsterdam With a lot more than we brought Forgetting to finish our chips in a cone
Kind of new style. Not at all personal to me, just a narrative style about one of my favourite cities.