Old Admirals Acoustic chords by Al Stewart

Chords with lyrics

Intro - D MajorD

Verse 1
   G+G        D MajorD      C majorC
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea
  G+G       D MajorD    FF       A augmentedA
Was on the old Calcutta in eighteen fifty-three
   G+G       D MajorD        C majorC       A augmentedA
I was just a lad of fourteen years a midshipman to be
  D MajorD       A minorAm
To make my way in sailing ships
    G+G     D MajorD A augmentedA B minorBm A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Of the royal navy

Verse 2
    G+G        D MajorD        C majorC
By the time that I was twenty-one I had sailed the world around
G+G            D MajorD          FF        A augmentedA
Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down
  G+G       D MajorD         C majorC        A augmentedA
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
  D MajorD         A minorAm
And dined on beer and herrings
     G+G        D MajorD A augmentedA B minorBm A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
While the waves blew all around

Bridge 1
B minorBm
I live in retirement now
  E MajorE                  E minorEm
And through my window comes the sound of seagulls
          B minorBm
And sets my mind remembering
                   E MajorE
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
  E minorEm             B minorBm
Way out across the open seas I hear them sing

Verse 3
    G+G         D MajorD           C majorC
Oh the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
  G+G           D MajorD           FF       A augmentedA
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
  G+G      D MajorD         C majorC        A augmentedA
And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me
  D MajorD         A minorAm
The proudest ship that ever sailed
  G+G        D MajorD A augmentedA B minorBm A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
For queen and country

Verse 4
    G+G       D MajorD          C majorC
Ah the old queen she passed away with the new born century
  G+G       D MajorD    FF        A augmentedA
And I received my calling up to the admiralty
  G+G           D MajorD       C majorC       A augmentedA
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
   D MajorD          A minorAm
As we watched the growing of the fleets
  G+G     D MajorD A augmentedA B minorBm A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Of High Germany

Bridge 2
B minorBm
So at last the Great War blazed

I waited with the passing days
  E MajorE              E minorEm
The call to arms that never came writing letters
 B minorBm               E MajorE
I may be old now in your eyes but all my years have made me wise
  E minorEm                 A augmentedA
You don't see where the danger lies so call me back
A augmentedA
Call me back

Verse 5
G+G       D MajorD             C majorC
But the war it ran it's course they could find no use for me
  G+G       D MajorD        C majorC       A augmentedA
And I live in the country now grandchildren on my knee
  G+G         D MajorD         C majorC        A augmentedA
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
  D MajorD      A minorAm
Old admirals who feel the wind
  G+G       D MajorD A augmentedA B minorBm A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
And never put to sea

Verse 6
  G+G         D MajorD           C majorC
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
  G+G         D MajorD         C majorC       A augmentedA
And some of them have come on rocks and some faced mutiny
  G+G          D MajorD        C majorC       A augmentedA
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company
  D MajorD      A minorAm
Old admirals who feel the wind
  G+G       D MajorD A augmentedA B minorBm A augmentedA G+G B minorBm A augmentedA A majorA D MajorD