| D | |
| 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 14 years, a midshipman to be |
| D Am ‑ A | To make my way in the sailing ships of the royal navy |
| DA BmA G D | |
| G D C ‑ | By the time that I was twenty-one I'd 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 ‑ A | And dined on beer and herrings while the waves blew all around |
| DA BmA G D | |
| Bm ‑ E ‑ | I live in retirement now, and through my window comes the sound |
| Em ‑ Bm ‑ | Of seagulls, and sets my mind remembering |
| Bm ‑ E ‑ | The evening stars like memories, sail far beyond the distant trees |
| Em ‑ A ‑ | Way out across the open seas I hear them sing |
| 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 ‑ A | The proudest ship that ever sailed for queen and country |
| DA BmA G D | |
| 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 ‑ A | As we watched the growing of the fleets of High Germany |
| DA BmA G D | |
| Bm ‑ E ‑ | So at last the Great War blazed, I waited with the passing days |
| Em ‑ Bm ‑ | 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... |
| G D C ‑ | But the war it ran its course, they could find no use for me |
| G D F 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 ‑ A | Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea |
| DA BmA G D | |
| G D C ‑ | Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea |
| G D F A | And some of them they've 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 ‑ A | Old admirals who feel the wind, and never put to sea |
| DA BmA G D |