Old Admirals
Al has often said how much he likes this song. It was released
on Past, Present and Future and is typical of that albumn both
in music and lyrics. The music is definately not folk any
more (although the first two lines of the song could be from a
trad ballad) and the lyrics have left the bedsitter introspection
behind. Or course I listened to it endlessly in my bedsitter ...
The song is ostensibly about the career of Admiral Lord Fisher,
who made an earlier appearance in Manuscript, and his rise from
cabin boy to First Sea Lord. The last verse again uses a
perspective shift to personalise the song.
I play the song in C because I can't hit the top notes in the
proper key of D. [and Al has detuned his guitar by a half a
tone on stage, so I'm not alone ;-]
Intro
C
F C Bb G
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea
F C Bb G
It was on the old 'Calcutta' in eighteen fifty three
F C Bb G
I was just a lad of fourteen years, a midshipman to be
C Bb G C G Am G F C
To make my way in sailing ships of the Royal Navy
F C Bb G
By the time that I was twenty-one I'd sailed the world around
F C Bb G
And w eathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down
F C Bb G
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
C Bb G C G Am G F C
And dined on beer and herrings while the waves blew all around
Am
I live in retirement now
D Dm
And through my window comes the sound of seagulls
Am
And sets my mind remembering
D
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
Dm
Way out across the open seas
G
I hear them sing
F C Bb G
Oh the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
F C Bb G
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
F C Bb G
And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me
C Bb G C G Am Am7 F C
The proudest ship that ever sailed for queen and country
F C Bb G
Ah, the old queen she passed away with the new born century
F C Bb G
And I received my calling up to the admiralty
F C Bb G
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
C Bb G C G Am Am7 F C
As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany
Am
So at last the Great War blazed
D
I waited with the passing days
Dm
The call to arms that never came
Am
Writing letters
I may be old now in your eyes
D
But all my years have made me wise
Dm
You don't see where the danger lies
G
Oh call me back, call me back...
F C Bb G
But the war it ran its course, they could find no use for me
F C Bb G
And I live in the country now, grandchildren on my knee
F C Bb G
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
C Bb G C G Am G F C
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea
F C Bb G
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
F C Bb G
And some of them they've come on rocks, and some faced mutiny
F C Bb G
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company
C Bb G C G Am G F C
Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea