Lyrics Rain Falls Down In Amsterdam - Eric Andersen

Rain Falls Down In Amsterdam

Rain falls down in Amsterdam
The streets are wet and black
Midnights like November
By the glow of a cigarette
The girls on hash in Station Square
Looking stupid from the drugs
When Marlena heard the boots march
There were reasons to be dumb
Shiny helmets in the shadows
Those trains that left at night
Those hiding in the cellars
Those eyes afraid of light
Something 'neath the border’s
Poured poison in the well
The creature has uncoiled
And is crawling up from Hell
Here comes nineteen fourteen
Nineteen thirty-two
Those cattle cars and yellow stars
It’s right back to the roots
It’s moving in the open
With a snarl and a growl
The cages have been broken
And the beast is on the prowl
Firebomb those houses
Burn those refugees
Be the crowd and do your work
Applauding silently
Round up all the gypsies
Go set them on the trains
Can’t you smell the smoke now
Drifting through the rain
Jews, better draw your curtains
You better lock your doors up tight
They’re snarling up in Rostock
In the beer halls, belly nights
The Fourth Reich’s coming, baby
They’re writing out the page
In Rome, Berlin, and Stockholm
Yeah, the beast has left the cage
Here comes nineteen thirty-two
Here comes déjà vu
Those cattle cars and yellow stars
Was there someone that you knew
It’s right there in the open
Something smelling bad
All the cages have been broken
And the beast is running mad
Those canals and cozy houses
Those reflections in the lights
You can almost feel it moving
The monster in the night
It’s looking with its yellow eyes
It’s out to settle scores
In the dim medieval distance
Feel it breathing down your pores
In Salt Lake and in Rio
The beast can smell the flames
It’s faxing hate out in Marseilles
Typing out your name
You can hear the windows shatter
As the time is drawing near
Kristallnacht’s come to town
Welcome back to the house of mirrors
The fire and the armbands
And the iron arm salutes
Pointing to the scapegoat
Is it me or was it you
It’s right there in the open
Don’t just stand there hoping
The leashes have been broken
And the dogs are on the loose
Now I have been here thinking
How lucky I have been
I never touched the barbed wire
Never saw the monkey grin
No rifle ever smashed my face
No bare electric shock
But I’ll confess up all I know
Who I am and who I’m not
To see retired killers
Is to see the lion yawn
The skinheads do their dirty work
For the cloak-and-dagger pawns
The dark eyes will be waiting there
When the borders they are crossed
So keep your filthy swastikas
Shove your iron cross
Here comes nineteen fourteen
Nineteen thirty-two
Those cattle cars and yellow stars
It’s right back to the roots
It’s out there in the open
It’s crawling on the move
The cages have been broken
And the beast is on the loose
Can’t you smell the blood now
Can’t you smell the truth
Oh, the rain falls down in Amsterdam
The rain falls down in Amsterdam
Oh, the rain falls down in Amsterdam
Yeah, the rain falls down in Amsterdam