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Great Ships and Great Oceans
(circa 1971)   

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Great ships and great oceans
Brave captains on the waves
Great ships and great emotions
Used to carry me away

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 From Billy Joel: Song by Song:
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    Billy has always had a love of the sea. ‘Great Ships and Great Oceans’, an unreleased demo from the early 1970s is his first song about the open waters. In a young and yearning voice, Billy recalls how the water called to him:
 
When I was just a little boy
I always wanted to go away to sea
And now I’m that much older
But I ain’t much wiser
I should have gone ’cause it keeps on calling me
 
He fondly recalls being on the water with his grandfather as ‘canvas sails would​ fill and blow us far away’ as ‘Great ships and great emotions used to carry me away’. Unfortunately, there is not much public information about the song but the author has transcribed the lyrics​ ​

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Winslow Homer's 'Breezing Up'

Words and Music by Billy Joel

When I was just a little boy
I always wanted to go away to sea
And now I'm that much older
But I ain't much wiser
I should have gone 'cause it keeps on calling me

I used to stand upon the shore
And dream about the life I'd live some day
With me and my grandfather
​Would be upon the water
And canvas sails would​ fill and blow us far away

Great ships and great oceans
Brave captains on the waves
Great ships and great emotions
Used to carry me away

I ain't going home no more
Cause I've seen beyond my childhood skies
And all my late confusion
Is just an old illusion 
My dreams remained though the chance has passed me by

There is no right there is no wrong
And we are only what we choose to be
And if I chose to follow
The things I believe in
Then the things that I believe will surely follow me

Great ships and great oceans
Brave captains on the waves
Great ships and great emotions
Used to carry me away

Great ships and great oceans
Brave captains on the waves
Great ships and great emotions
Used to carry me away

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