Steve Goodman - The Dutchman

[TheCheezhead15]

As Neil Diamond Would say Done(far) Too Soon

[08shortstop]

Songwriting like this is on another level ... like a Van Gogh painting, a Tennyson poem ... hits you in the senses.

[bzockster]

My favorite version of this tune was on "Somebody Else's Troubles" with Steve on 12 string.

[champlain9]

One of my favorite Steve Goodman songs. Steve is a Legend and is missed by his friends & fans. Earl Pionkie has shared with me many stories of the days of The Earl of Oldtown. Earl told me that Steve was like a son to him. R.I.P. Steve.

[rockerphelps]

Got the studio version on "The Essential Steve Goodman"; This is good, too.

[jerseyjoe4good]

Thank you champlain9 for remembering Earl. I was the doorman and floor manager at The Earl of Old Town in 1962 and 1963. That was before Steve came on the scene, but once you worked at Earl's you were family forever. So, for years i was a frequent visitor on many a night to hear Steve and then sit with him at the bar between sets and talk about The Grand Inquisitor and its possible relationship to Suzzane or swap anecdotes about Harry Carey. Oh, Steve, How blessed we were while you were here

[goodguyradio]

world class guitar playing

[2rjmom]

Always loved this song. Had a two-record album "the essential steve goodman" on vinyl. Thanks for posting this.

[zulibert]

Its a hell good song. I expire this just now, not on my own. I'm standing beside

crying and wondering.  -what life lasts at all-

[56Edify]

One of the few songs that can make my eyes well up every single time I hear it....... along with the equally good Would You Like To Learn To Dance

[syzygytop]

I think it's called the Galaxy Song.

[DC7077]

I have a copy of Rise Up Singing somewhere... will look.

[goodguyradio]

I know Steve did not write this song but he was such a great writer he easily could have.. Anyway it is a fantasic rendition, and he just hit it out the park with his vocals and the emtion he put into it.

[DrakeGrad]

Stevie was one of the Chicago originals..what a great talent

[goodguyradio]

Takes you back to never never land

[vladedou]

"universe song" is a monty python song. from their last movie, "meaning of life." a lovely song, sung by eric idle.

[rocktenniscat]

I recently visited old friend, a Dutch couple in their 70's. This song came crashing back from over 30 years ago. The parallels are uncanny: The man worked on Freighters out of Rotterdam. He is really sweet, but a little confused now and then. His partner's name is Greet, a Dutch form of Margaret....she's a retired teacher, and very caring. I loved this song in the 70's and it is SO good to hear it again. Steve Goodman was a wonderful artist, interpreting this song beautifully.

[headpirate4u]

Excellent song and a fine troubadour. What a loss for all of us. Thank you for posting !

[tmac1945]

That guitar at 2:40 to 3:25 gets me.

[PawPants]

My dad used to sing this when I was little. Nostalgia..

[Abrown465]

I always loved this song as performed by Steve in the 70's. I never realized that the Dutchman's madness was Alzheimer's Disease. A term I only learned years later.

[LMUDewey]

The "New Kingston Trio" may do this song and Liam Clancy does it also, but No One sings it like Steve Goodman.

[tmac1945]

Some mighty fine guitar pickin'. Great feeling comes through. I heard the "New Kingston Trio" do this song at the Bitburg Air Force Base officers' club in '70 or '71 and thought it was the best song they did that night. Thanks for sharing it.

[Sportsboy1956]

This is a different arrangment than was on the original studio release. This is just a little slower and actually more poignant. I first heard Goodman do this song on a live recording in about 1975 on an AM Radio station that broadcast out of Cambridge, Ma. I was so moved by the song that I went into my local record store and special ordered the LP. It was not the version I had heard but still very cool,but this one is better. The first one I heard is the one on YouTube live with Jethro Burns

[ottoguttfreund]

I loved coming across this. Thanks for posting it.

[cheekiemyheart123]

Well, I guess there is only one version of it on youtube, type in monty python universe song. It's a silly version, but it may help you remember the song -- Steve sang it to great applause around Chicago. E.

[cheekiemyheart123]

Okay, here's my Lincoln Park Pirates reminder, and yet aother request: I used to own a songbook called "Rise Up Singing." In it, there was a song we used to play and sing about the Milky Way galaxy (it may have been called The Universe Song).  Steve used to love it, and he sang it onstage several times -- anybody remember it? Better yet, can someone out there please post it if possible? I'd be so grateful if you would. Thanks, E.

[getsallad]

Got it, I'll upload Lincoln Park Pirates later today. I've got two live versions, one with Jethro and one without, which would you prefer? Haven't heard any Universe Song, though :(

[LouieLouie1969]

the very young understand the very old very well

[cheekiemyheart123]

I saw steve goodman perform this at least a dozen times ... always different, always beautiful. He was always having fun onstage ... yet he was a terrific guitarist. I'm surprised that there is no "Lincoln Park Pirates" on YouTube ... can anyone out there please post it ... Thanks in advance. E.

[getsallad]

Eventually, I'll post it, keep reminding me if you don't see it up in about a week or two!

[PirateDanRocco]

Steve is the picture of what a "folkie" should

be! Awesome guitar and a writing like he was two hundred years old! I will always miss this guy, and I never met him....

Rest in Peace Steve....

[champlain9]

This is one of my favorites of Steve's. He was taken from us too early in his young life and career. My good friend Earl J.J. Pionke, owner of The Earl of Olde Town has shared many wonderful stories about Steve. Appearing somewhat emotional, Earl told me: "Steve was like a son to me" Thank you Steve for leaving us a great legacy of your music. R.I.P.

[zimmyfan115]

Terrific!!!

Ron aka zimmyfan115

[ALEXPNORTON]

You know, I am sure that Steve would join me in saying that IIts the Author that you are feeling"Micheal Peter Smith" not who moved you as a performer that will bring you to the the beautiful truth of Margrets' love for the Dutchman...................Elw­ood

[LeondraL]

What a love song.... total acceptance and forgiveness for those shortcomings. Don't let this one slip away.

[gerhar11]

please listen to the makem and clancy version. sang beautifully.

[1947Blondie]

A good friend told me to listen to this song. Called it the best love song ever written and I have to agree

[alby1kenobi]

Incredible song! Steve Goodman:  R.I.P. -The Mexican

[lennycohenfan]

Steve's simply the best.  Enjoy the music.

[LeondraL]

Something made me think of this song today. My husband used to play guitar in bars and coffee shops. I fell in love with him over this song 30 years ago.... or so..

damn... not the only one with this sentiment.

Still in love. and "Margaret" remembers that for me :)

[mediumrider]

fantastic! One of my favourite songs ever.

[DocGeorge4U]

simply  KILLER!

[stuffbyken]

At 20 I thought this song was great. At 30, the third verse gave me a knot in the stomach. At 43, tears just come bursting out of my eyes. What will it be like in 20 years?

[Mjollnir50]

I was thirty when I first heard it. At 65 it still makes me weep, it's one of the three best love songs in the English language, regardless whether it's Steve or Michael singing.

[purveyor24]

If you want to feel soul, find "cefdad"'s version and video on this site....I'm 60 and taking care of  ("the leader of the band"....nod to Fogelberg)....my twice stroke afflicted Dad....and remembering his 52 yrs with Mom, and cefdads version turns me into a puddle every time.....testosterone be damned!!!

[2beekate]

@stuffbyken At 57 I still have the same video in my head as when I was in my 20s-but the tears-there are no words

[oldredracer]

I first heard this when I 'discovered' him a few years ago. Does it remind anyone else of Ronald and Nancy Reagan after his presidency?

[purveyor24]

In response to "oldredracer"....what a lovely analogy.....y'mean the last time we had a recession this deep? Or trading guns for hostages with Iran? Or turning a blind eye to CIA complicity and allowing drug importation into the US to fund the war in El Salvador? And inflation rates out of control? And all the while,as Nancy looked on with adoring eyes, poor old Ronnie didn't remember...Nah, it reminds me of MY family...a much better memory.

[oldredracer]

I was talking about the song and how it might relate to a couple held together by commitment in the face of debilitating illness.

Notice how I chose to explain rather than simply calling you an idiot.

[Crustman1957]

I saw him do this in concert, it was his encore. Somebody shouted it out and he did it.

[doppstein]

I had "lost" this song and "found" it again in Pandora's radio. It touches memories that are 45+ years old. Wonderful how music can do that. This is a beautiful song both musically and poetically.

[chach21]

this is my favorite version by far. cheers to lamentations of past grandeur (real or imagined), as well as psychological and mental shortcomings

[vcarusovm]

I echo moosekatrinka comments I saw him perform this live each time he came to LA. All other versions pale in comparison. Thi guy was so soulfull what a loss!

[frkaz911]

Steve was taken from us way too soon. I sort of prefer the usual version of this song, which had been posted for a while, but this one is still pretty darn good.

[moosekatrinka]

Stevie's interpretation of "The Dutchman" is in the top five songs of my lifetime. We'll never stop missing Stevie. What a huge heart!

[lennycohenfan]

The best.