LyricMeaning

Old Admirals
Al Stewart

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


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Lyrics by Al Stewart

  (A Child's View Of) The Eisenhower Years   \   A Long Way Down From Stephanie   A Long Way Down To Stephanie   A Man For All Seasons   A Small Fruit Song   Accident On 3rd Street   Almost Lucy   Amsterdam   Angel Of Mercy   Angry Bird   Anna   Anniversary   Antarctica   Apple Cider Re-Constitution   Bad Reputation   Ballad Of Mary Foster   Bedsitter Images   Beleeka Doodle Day   Black Hill   Broadway Hotel   Cafe Society   Candidate   Candy Came Back   Candy Came Back [*]   Carol   Charlotte Corday   Class of '58   Cleave To Me   Clifton In The Rain   Constantinople   Denise at 16   Don't Forget Me   Ear Of The Night   Electric Los Angeles Sunset   Elvis At The Wheel   End Of The Day   Feel Like   Fields Of France   Flying Sorcery   Football Hero   Genie On A Table Top   Gethsemane, Again   Gypsy & the Rose   Hanno The Navigator   Here in angloa   Here in angola   Hipposong   How Does It Happen [*]   I'm Falling   If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It   If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It [Live]   In Brooklyn   In Red Square [*] - Al Stewart, Peter White   In the Dark   Indian Summer   Ivich   Josephine Baker   Katherine Of Oregon   King Of Portugal   Last Days Of The Century   License To Steal   Life And Life Only   Life In Dark Water   Like William McKinley   Loneliest Place On The Map   Lord Grenville   Lord Salisbury   Lori don t go right now   Lori, Don’t Go Right Now   Love Chronicles   Lover Man   Lover Man [*]   Manuscript   Merlin's Time   Midas Shadow   Midnight Rocks   Modern Times   Mona Lisa Talking   Mondo Sinistro   Murmansk Run / Ellis Island   Murmansk Run\/Ellis Island   Murmansk runellis island   My Enemies Have Sweet Voices   Necromancer   Next Time   Night Meeting   Night Rolls In   Night Train To Munich   Nostradamus   Not The One   Old Compton Street Blues   On the Border   One Stage Before   One That Got Away - Al Stewart, Peter White   One Two Three   One two three 1 2 3   One, Two, Three (1, 2, 3)   Optical Illusion   Out in the Snow   Paint By Numbers   Peter On The White Sea   Post World War Two Blues   Pretty Golden Hair   Rain Barrel   Real And Unreal   Red Toupee   Ringing Of Bells   Ringing of Bells [*]   Roads To Moscow   Roads to Moscow [Live]   Rocks In the Ocean   Royal Courtship   Rumours Of War   Rumours of War - Al Stewart, Peter White   Running Man   Russians & Americans   Sailing Into The Future   Samuel, Oh How You've Changed   Samuel, Oh How You've Changed!   Sand in Your Shoes   Scandinavian Girl   Shah Of Shahs   Silver Kettle   Sirens Of Titan   Sleepwalking   Soho (Needless To Say)   Soho (Needless to Say) [Alternate Take]   Somewhere in England 1915   Song On the Radio   Song on the Radio [Live]   Songs Out of Clay   Strange Girl   Swiss Cottage Maneuvers   Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres   Terminal Eyes   The Candidate   The Carmichaels   The Dark And Rolling Sea   The Dark And The Rolling Sea   The Ear Of The Night   The Elf   The Gypsy and the Rose   The Last Day of June 1934   The Loneliest Place On The Map   The News From Spain   The One That Got Away   The Palace Of Versailles   The Year of the Cat   Time Passages   Time Passages [Live]   Timeless Skies   Tonton Macoute   Tonton Macoute [*]   Trains   Trespasser   Turn Into Earth   Valentina Way   Warren Harding   What's Going On?   Where Are They Now   Where Are They Now?   Year Of The Cat   You Don't Even Know Me   You Should Have Listened To Al   Zero She Flies

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