For he sailed in the Navy when man was free to be
A man, and not be treated like a child at mother’s knee
He showed respect to others and was shown it in return
But he sees what his Navy has become, and for the past he yearns

He never had to mind his tongue, when he sailed across the waves
And he learned his salty language from the bravest of the brave
He fought in countless bar rooms, more than once his blood has flowed
And he’s roamed through the parts of town where all the red lights glowed

He wore blues, whites and dungarees, not garb of mottled hue
And Dixie cups, worn jauntily, were favored by the crew
He might not have many ribbons, but those he had, he earned
Not like the world today where everybody gets a turn

He didn’t need some one to hold his hand on liberty
For he, and all his brethren, were the masters of the sea
And he sheds a tear to see the modern Navy of today
Because he doesn’t understand how things could have turned out this way

For now political correctness is the one and only rule
And the leaders that he once revered have been replaced by fools
And slowly, one by one, he’s seen the proud traditions die
It breaks his heart to see it, and he rages at the skies

Now he’s an old sailor, his hair and beard have both turned grey
And he sits there on the pier and gazes out across the waves
And he wonders what has happened to the Navy that he served
And he wonders why its leaders have lost all their God damned nerve