Al Stewart Songs - Old Admirals Lyrics

Al Stewart - Old Admirals

Al Stewart - Old Admirals Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Past, Present And Future
Released: 1973

Old Admirals Lyrics

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

Writer/s: STEWART, ALISTAIR IAN
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Old Admirals

Stewart wrote this after reading a biography of Admiral Lord Fisher, who resigned as First Sea Lord in 1915 after a dispute with Winston Churchill.

Fisher (1841-1920) is regarded by some as second only to Lord Nelson in British naval history. He was born in what was then Ceylon, the son of a British Army officer, enlisted in the Royal Navy aged just thirteen and rose to the position of First Sea Lord, retiring on his 70th birthday. Fisher was recalled after Prince Louis Battenberg (another of Stewart's heroes) was forced to resign at the outbreak of war in Europe on account of his German ancestry. Both these men appear in "Manuscript," the song which can be said to have started historical folk-rock.

The album version of "Old Admirals" runs to 5 minutes 54 seconds; it is also included on the 1996 unofficial fan club release Oceans Of Delphi, in which Stewart tells his audience this was the most uncommercial song possible being about the rise of British sea power immediately prior to the First World War. Fisher, he added, was utterly devoted to the British Empire, and was cast aside and forgotten at the end of his life; the song was an extended metaphor for growing old and unwanted.
Although the first part of this statement is undoubtedly true, Fisher was anything but forgotten in old age. He resigned in May 1915 after a dispute with Churchill, but soon found another post, and on his death he was given an illustrious funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Stewart said on this live recording that "Old Admirals" was probably his personal favorite of the songs he had ever written (up until that time), but he has said the same thing about "Manuscript," the first song he wrote in this new genré, and which bears an even stronger metaphor.

See Admiral Lord Fisher in Song Images.