Song :
F#
Intro :
D
G D C
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea
G D C A
Was on the old Calcutta in eighteen fifty-three
G D C A
I was just a lad of 14 years, a midshipman to be
D Am G D
To make my way in sailing ships of the royal navy
F#m Bm A G G D
G D
By the time that I was twenty-one
C
I'd sailed the world around
G D
Weathered storms in the China seas
C A
with the hatches battened down
G D
And made my way by starlight
C A
off the coast of Newfoundland
D Am
And dined on beer and herrings while,
G D
the waves blew all around
F#m Bm A G G D
Bm
I live in retirement now,
E
and through my window comes the sound
Em Bm
Of seagulls, and sets my mind remembering.
Bm
The evening stars like memories,
E
sail far beyond the distant trees
Em A
Way out across the open seas I hear them sing
G D
Oh the wooden ships they turned to iron
C
and the iron ships to steel
G D
And shed their sails like autumn leaves
C A
with the turning of the wheel
G D
And I was given captain's rank
C A
and soon took under me
D Am
The proudest ship that ever sailed
G D
for queen and country
F#m Bm A G G D
Break :
D F#m Bm A G
G A D A Bm
D F#m Bm A G A
D F#m Bm A G G D
G D
Ah, the old queen she passed away
C
with the new born century
G D C 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 G D
As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany
F#m Bm A G G D
Bm
So at last the Great War blazed,
E
I waited with the passing days
Em
The call to arms that never came,
Bm
writing letters.
Bm
I may be old now in your eyes,
E
but all my years have made me wise
Em
You don't see where the danger lies,
A
so call me back, call me back..
G D
But the war it ran its course,
C
they could find no use for me
G D
And I live in the country now,
C A
grandchildren on my knee
G D
And sometimes think in all this world
C A
the saddest thing to be
D Am
Old admirals who feel the wind,
G D
and never put to sea
F#m Bm A G
Break :
D F#m Bm A G G A D A Bm
D F#m Bm A G A D F#m Bm A G
D F#m Bm A G G A D A Bm
D F#m Bm A G A D F#m Bm A G G D
G D
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams
C
like ships across the sea
G D
And some of them they've come on rocks,
C A
and some faced mutiny
G D
And when they're sunken one by one
C A
I'll join that company
D Am
Old admirals who feel the wind,
G D
and never put to sea
Outro :
D F#m Bm A G
G A D A Bm
D F#m Bm A G A
D F#m Bm A G
D F#m Bm A G
G A D A Bm
D F#m Bm A G A
D F#m Bm A G G D
