The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Eric Bogle

When I was a young man I carried me pack

And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun

And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli


It well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water

And how in that hell they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, 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
He nearly blew us back home to Australia


And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain

Well we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again


Oh those that 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 me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed

And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
I never knew there was worse things than dying


Oh no more I'll 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

They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed

And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla

And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one there waiting for me

To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the Band played Waltzing Matilda

When they carried us down the gangway
Oh nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away


Now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me

I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glories
I see the old men all tired, stiff and worn

Those weary old 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
And the old men still answer the call

But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all


Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong

So who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?