Old admirals

From the AL STEWART album
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE (1973)

This song by Al Stewart, one of my favourite writers, was inspired by the life and times of Admiral Lord "Jackie" Fisher. In the song, the Admiral is in retirement, looking back on his life, and yearning to be back at sea where he could use his experience. Stewart's talent for bringing out the differences between the power of youth and the wisdom of age is on top form here. As the Italians say, "si gioventù sapesse, se vecchiaia potesse" - if only youth knew how, if only age could.

I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea,
It was on the old "Calcutta" in eighteen 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.

Flying Sorcery

Words and music by AL STEWART
From the album THE YEAR OF THE CAT (1976)

Like many of Al Stewart's works, this haunting piece works on several levels. The theme of unrequited love (the best kind, as a friend of mine says) runs through it, but I also like the references to flying. Especially tiger moths, which can be seen in the skies above Cantabrigia, and Faith, Hope and Charity, the three biplanes which kept Malta supplied during the German blockade of World War II. Again, as with much of Stewart's work, shades of presence and absence are deftly woven into the fabric of the song. The album was hardly off my turntable for years.

With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small.

No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day

Are you there?
On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there?

Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights

Are you there?
In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of dare
The compass roads will guide you anywhere,
Oh, are you there?

The sun comes up on Icarus
As the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus Y
ou can touch the morning air against your wheels

Are you there?
Do you have a thought for me that you can share?
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there?