Amsterdam song by Jacques Brel.

From the Days of Pearly Spencer song I also came across Marc Almond singing it, then found him singing Amsterdam by Jacques Brel and sung by many more people.

To the tune of Greensleeves. Simple tune though difficult to sing! Simple enough lyrics but Brel performs with such passion the result is amazing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_(Jacques_Brel_song)
The tune is a slightly modified version of the traditional English folk song Greensleeves.[1]

In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who sings
Of the dreams that he brings
>From the wide open sea
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who sleeps
While the river bank weeps
To the old Willow tree

In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who dies
Full of beer, full of cries
In a drunken town fight
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who's born
On a hot muggy morn
By the dawn's early light

In the port of Amsterdam
Where the sailors all meet
There's a sailor who eats
Only fish heads and tails
And he'll show you his teeth
That have rotted too soon
That can haul up the sails
That can swallow the moon

And he yells to the cook
With his arms open wide
"Hey, bring me more fish
Throw it down by my side"
And he wants so to belch
But he's too full to try
So he stands up and laughs
And he zips up his fly

In the port of Amsterdam
You can see sailors dance
Paunches bursting their pants
Grinding women to porch
They've forgotten the tune
That their whiskey voice croaked
Splitting the night
With the roar of their jokes
And they turn and they dance
And they laugh and they lust
Till the rancid sound of the accordion bursts
And then out of the night
With their pride in their pants
And the sluts that they tow
Underneath the street lamp

In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who drinks
And he drinks and he drinks
And he drinks once again
He'll drink to the health
Of the whores of Amsterdam
Who've given their bodies
To a thousand other men
Yeah, they've bargained their virtue
Their goodness all gone
For a few dirty coins
When he just can't go on
Throws his nose to the sky
Aims it up above
And he pisses like I cry
On the unfaithful love

In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam

Original version by Brel and translation:

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/amsterdam-amsterdam.html-6

Amsterdam 

Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui chantent
Les rêves qui les hantent
Au large d'Amsterdam
Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui dorment
Comme des oriflammes
Le long des berges mornes

Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui meurent
Pleins de bière et de drames
Aux premières lueurs
Mais dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui naissent
Dans la chaleur épaisse
Des langueurs océanes

Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui mangent
Sur des nappes trop blanches
Des poissons ruisselants
Ils vous montrent des dents
A croquer la fortune
A décroisser la Lune
A bouffer des haubans
Et ça sent la morue
Jusque dans le coeur des frites
Que leurs grosses mains invitent
A revenir en plus
Puis se lèvent en riant
Dans un bruit de tempête
Referment leur braguette
Et sortent en rotant

Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui dansent
En se frottant la panse
Sur la panse des femmes
Et ils tournent et ils dansent
Comme des soleils crachés
Dans le son déchiré
D'un accordéon rance
Ils se tordent le cou
Pour mieux s'entendre rire
Jusqu'à ce que tout à coup
L'accordéon expire
Alors le geste grave
Alors le regard fière
Ils ramènent leur batave
Jusqu'en pleine lumière

Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Y a des marins qui boivent
Et qui boivent et reboivent
Et qui reboivent encore
Ils boivent à la santé
Des putains d'Amsterdam
De Hambourg et d'ailleurs
Enfin ils boivent aux dames
Qui leur donnent leur joli corps
Qui leur donnent leur vertu
Pour une pièce en or
Et quand ils ont bien bu
Se plantent le nez au ciel
Se mouchent dans les étoiles
Et ils pissent comme je pleure
Sur les femmes infidèles

Dans le port d'Amsterdam
Dans le port d'Amsterdam.



Amsterdam

In the port of Amsterdam

There are sailors who sing
The dreams that haunt them
On the coast of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who sleep
Like banners
The hills along the banks

In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who die
Full of beer and dramas
At first light
But in the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who are born
In the thick heat
Of the languid oceans

In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who eat
On too white tablecloths
Fish dripping
They show you their teeth
To sketch the fortune
To descend the Moon
To eat the shrouds
And it smells like cod
Into the heart of fries
that their big hands invite
To return to more
Then they get up laughing
In one sound of storm
Closing their codpiece
And leave in belching

In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who dance
By rubbing the belly
On the belly of women
And they turn and they dance
like suns who spat
In a broken sound
Of a rancid accordion
They twist their necks
To understand each other better, laughing
Until all of a sudden
The accordion ends
Then the serious gesture
Then the proud look
They bring their Dutchman
Until the full light

In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who drink
And drink and drink again
And yet they drink again
They drink to health
Whores of Amsterdam
Hamburg and elsewhere
Finally they drink to the ladies
That give them their nice body
That give them their virtue
For a gold coin
And when they are too drunk
They plant their noses to the sky
They blow their noses in the stars
And they piss like I cry
On unfaithful women

In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam.

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/amsterdam-amsterdam.html-6#TPAEKoAJIXheQdbe.99