The way I hear the song, though I could be all wrong on this is that the person telling the story is the one who was in love with Margaret and they both sacrificed so that she could take care of her father. The telling parts are the sacrifice of not having her own children and the chorus:

(chorus)
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee
Long ago I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me

where the singer relates to Margaret in a way that makes me think they were in love, but he sacrificed, as well.

Last edited by Jack Swain; 01/06/10 03:28 PM.