G - G - G - G - A - A - A D E We were the cliche American backpackers G D Standing on the side of the road in the rain E G With our cardboard sign written in black sharpie D A G That read Am-ster-dam D A G We were going to Am-ster-dam D E So we weren't surprised by the looks in the eyes G Of the people in their cars when they passed us by D E And they gave us the middle finger G Or the thumbs up or thumbs down D E But we stayed tough, we stood our ground g And by the end of the afternoon D E G We got dropped off in the middle of this town A G Now everyone will tell you 'bout the coffee shops A G And everyone will tell you 'bout the red-light district A G But somehow up to now it seems they all forgot to mention D A The millions of bikes locked to the millions of bridges G D That arch up like rainbows to cross the city's millions of can*ls A G That run down every street with the houseboats nice and neat G D And the buildings lean so much you think that they might fall down A Like the rain that day that drove us to a stoop G Ya gotta feel sorry for all the hippies D That came here in the '60s A Now they don't know who they are G We watched one of them playin' flute He was tryin' to earn some change Bm G We had spent all of our money for that day Bm G We grew hungry and the rain just came and came Bm G And oh how I wished I had some of those fries Bm G That the people were eating when they passed us by A G And I closed my eyes for a minute or two A G I opened them up when I got a nudge from you A G There was the hippie, the one with the flute, A G And holding in his hands was my wish come true D G And he handed me the whole thing A G And this whole interaction felt was more like a dream D G He was readin' my mind it seemed A G Like a genie granting wishes for people on the street D G And we never could have thanked him enough A G I don't know if he knew how much it meant to us D A And that night in a tent we counted all our money G D And we figured out how long we could stay D A The way it looked to me we could live here forever G D Sleep in the campground, eat falafel every day Bm A But that's not what we came here to do D G We had so much more left to see D A And though this place felt so nice G D We made our plans to leave And we went to this park where they had free bikes at the gate Spent the day riding through the trees and it felt great We were offered a place to stay on the floor of someone's office But we chose to sleep beside the interstate D G And the sounds of the cars passing by D G Put us right to sleep D G Nothin' beats layin' right under the stars D A D And I always feel safe when you're sleepin' beside me