Old Admirals

I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea

It was on the old 'Calcutta' in 1853

I was just a lad of fourteen years, a midshipman to be

To make my way in sailing ships of the Royal Navy

By the time that I was twenty-one I'd sailed the world around

Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down

And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland

And dined on beer and herrings while the waves blew all around

I live in retirement now

And through my window comes the sound of seagulls

And sets my mind remembering

The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees

Way out across the open seas

I hear them sing

Oh the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel

And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel

And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me

The proudest ship that ever sailed for queen and country

Ah, the old queen she passed away with the new born century

And I received my calling up to the admiralty

The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly

As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany

So at last the Great War blazed

I waited with the passing days

The call to arms that never came

Writing letters

I may be old now in your eyes

But all my years have made me wise

You don't see where the danger lies

Oh call me back, call me back...

But the war it ran its course, they could find no use for me

And I live in the country now, grandchildren on my knee

And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be

Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea

Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea

And some of them they've come on rocks, and some faced mutiny

And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company

Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea