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Old Admirals Lyrics
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea,
It was on the old "Calcutta" in eightteen fifty-three.
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 newborn 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
a 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.
It was on the old "Calcutta" in eightteen fifty-three.
I was just a lad of fourteen years, a midshipman to be
To make my way in sailing ships of the Royal Navy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
a 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..."
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.
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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This song is pretty straight forward in its interpretation. It is from the POV of an admiral in the English royal navy. He had been sailing the world since he was boy in 1853 and became captain around the time the ships changed from wood to steel. He became admiral at the turn of the century just after Queen Victoria died. He watched as Germany's power grew in the early 1900s, but by the time WWI broke out he was too old serve in the Navy during the War. "Oh call me back" is referring to him asking to serve during the war arguing that he is old but wiser and more experienced than the younger ship captains. But he never fought in the war. The narrator is telling the story sometime after WWI but before WWII. By then he's a retired grandfather who misses the sea.
@drakus1173 :\r\nI agree with your interpretation 100% but it also has overtones to me of the elderly gentlemen in smart blue blazers who promenade the seafronts of England with a saucy eye for any passing young man : "Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea" :-)
@drakus1173 :\r\nI agree with your interpretation 100% but it also has overtones to me of the elderly gentlemen in smart blue blazers who promenade the seafronts of England with a saucy eye for any passing young man : "Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea" :-)
It's more or less about Jackie Fisher, the admiral who led the Dreadnought revolution and dominated the Royal Navy in the run-up to WW1. It's also about growing old and having regrets about life. The last verse is just heartbreaking:
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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