Now 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
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers

We sailed off for Gallipoli

Well I remember that terrible day

When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

Johnny Turk, he 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

He nearly blew us back home to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

When we stopped to bury our slain
And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again


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
Though 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, and I wished I were dead
I never knew there were worse things than dying

For 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 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
Then they turned all their faces away


So 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 sore

The 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

Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?