The original Sutherland Brothers recording was a bright up-tempo number. Rod Stewart recorded it as the theme tune to a fairly extended fly-on-the-wall documentary series following the sailors on the Royal Navy ship, the Ark Royal.
The Rod Stewart version was a dirge, and in fact ruined the song for me. It also was the time period which marked Rod's transformation form a gutsy rock and roller into what he later became.
Quack!