You're sending me tulips mistaken for lilies
You give me a look that the function is silly
You turn my head till it roll down the brain-drain
If I had any sense now I wouldn't want it back again
New Amsterdam it's become much too much
Till I have the possession of everything she touches
Till I step on the brake to get out of her clutches
Till I speak double dutch to a real double duchess
Down on the main spring listen to the tick-tock
Collect all the faces that move in your lot
Twice-shy and dog-tied because you've been bitten
Everything you say now sounds like it was ghost-written

New Amsterdam it's become much too much
Till I have the possession of everything she touches
Till I step on the brake to get out of her clutches
Till I speak double dutch to a real double duchess
Back in London they'll take you to heart after a little while

Though I look right at home I still feel like an exile
Somehow I found myself down at the dockside
Thinking about the old days of liverpool and rotherhide
Transparent people who live on the other side
Living a life that is almost like suicide
New Amsterdam it's become much too much
Till I have the possession of everything she touches
Till I step on the brake to get out of her clutches
Till I speak double dutch to a real double duchess