Intro
D
Verse 1
G D C
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea
G D F A
Was on the old Calcutta in eighteen fifty-three
G D C A
I was just a lad of fourteen years a midshipman to be
D Am
To make my way in sailing ships
G D A Bm A G D
Of the royal navy
Verse 2
G D C
By the time that I was twenty-one I had sailed the world around
G D F A
Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down
G D C A
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
D Am
And dined on beer and herrings
G D A Bm A G D
While the waves blew all around
Bridge 1
Bm
I live in retirement now
E Em
And through my window comes the sound of seagulls
Bm
And sets my mind remembering
E
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
Em Bm
Way out across the open seas I hear them sing
Verse 3
G D C
Oh the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
G D F A
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
G D C A
And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me
D Am
The proudest ship that ever sailed
G D A Bm A G D
For queen and country
Verse 4
G D C
Ah the old queen she passed away with the new born century
G D F A
And I received my calling up to the admiralty
G D C A
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
D Am
As we watched the growing of the fleets
G D A Bm A G D
Of High Germany
Bridge 2
Bm
So at last the Great War blazed
I waited with the passing days
E Em
The call to arms that never came writing letters
Bm E
I may be old now in your eyes but all my years have made me wise
Em A
You don't see where the danger lies so call me back
A
Call me back
Verse 5
G D C
But the war it ran it's course they could find no use for me
G D C A
And I live in the country now grandchildren on my knee
G D C A
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
D Am
Old admirals who feel the wind
G D A Bm A G D
And never put to sea
Verse 6
G D C
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
G D C A
And some of them have come on rocks and some faced mutiny
G D C A
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company
D Am
Old admirals who feel the wind
G D A Bm A G Bm A A D
And never put to sea
