The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
as sung by Makem and Clancy
G C G Em
When I was a young man I carried my pack
G D G
And I lived the free life of the rover.
G C G Em
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
G D G
I waltzed my Matilda all over.
D C G
Then in nineteen-fifteen my country said, "Son,
D C G
It's time to stop ramblin' there's work to be done."
G C G Em
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun,
G D G
And they sent me away to the war.
G C G
And the band played "Waltzing Matilda"
G C D
As the ship pulled away from the quay.
C C(open A) G Em
And amid all the cheers, flag wavin' and tears
G D G
We sailed off for Galipoli.
2
How I remember that terrible day
When the blood stained the sand and the water.
And how in that hell that they called Souvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turkey was ready, oh he primed himself well.
He rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell.
And in five minutes flat we were all blown to Hell,
Nearly blew us back home to Australia.
And the band played "Waltzing Maltilda"
As we stopped to bury our slain.
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
And we started all over again.
3
Those who were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death, and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive,
While around be the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I awoke in my hospital bed,
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead.
Never knew there were worse things than dying.
No more will I go waltzing Matilda,
All around the green bush far and near.
For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs,
No more waltzing Matilda for me.
4
They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane -
Those proud, wounded heroes of Souvla.
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where my legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve, and to mourn, and to pity.
And the band played "Waltzing Matilda"
As they carried us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared,
And then turned all their faces away.
5
Now every April I sit on my porch
As I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reliving their dreams of past glory.
I see the old men, all tired, stiff and sore,
Forgotten heroes of a forgotten war.
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question.
And the band plays "Waltzing Matilda"
As the old men still answer the call.
But year after year, the numbers get fewer -
Someday no one will march there at all.
OUTRO:
G C
"Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
G C D G
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"
G D G C
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong,
G C D G
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"