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The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Lyrics
Now when I was a young man,
I carried me pack.
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray Spring basin,
To the dusty Outback,
Well I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915,
My country said son,
It's time you stopped rambling,
There's work to be done.
So they gave me a tin hat,
And they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers,
The flag waving and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.
And how well I remember that terrible Day,
When our blood stained the sand,
And the water.
And how in the hell,
They called Suvla Bay,
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk he was waiting,
He'd primed himself well.
He showered us with bullets,
And he rained us with shell,
And in five minutes flat,
He'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda,
When we stopped to bury our slain,
We buried ours,
And the turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.
And those that were left,
Well we tried to survive,
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for 10 weary weeks,
I kept myself alive,
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse overhead,
And when i woke up in me hospital bed,
And saw what it had done,
Well I wished I was dead,
Never knew there was worse things than dying.
For I'll go no more Waltzing Matilda,
All around the green bush far and free, To hump tents and pegs,
A man needs both legs,
No more Waltzing Matilda for me.
So they gathered the crippled,
The wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless,
The armless,
The blind,
The insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda, As they carried us down the gangway, But nobody cheered,
They just stood and stared,
And they turned all their faces away.
And so now,
Every April,
I sit on me porch,
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades,
How proud they may march,
Reviving old dreams of past glories. And the old men march slowly,
Our bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war,
And the young people ask,
What are they marching for,
And I ask meself the same question.
But the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
And the old men still answer the call, But as year follows year,
More old men disappear,
Some day 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 that billabong,
Who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me.
I carried me pack.
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murray Spring basin,
To the dusty Outback,
Well I waltzed my Matilda all over.
My country said son,
It's time you stopped rambling,
There's work to be done.
So they gave me a tin hat,
And they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers,
The flag waving and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.
When our blood stained the sand,
And the water.
And how in the hell,
They called Suvla Bay,
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
He'd primed himself well.
He showered us with bullets,
And he rained us with shell,
And in five minutes flat,
He'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
When we stopped to bury our slain,
We buried ours,
And the turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.
Well we tried to survive,
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
I kept myself alive,
Though around me the corpses piled higher.
And when i woke up in me hospital bed,
And saw what it had done,
Well I wished I was dead,
Never knew there was worse things than dying.
All around the green bush far and free, To hump tents and pegs,
A man needs both legs,
No more Waltzing Matilda for me.
The wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless,
The armless,
The blind,
The insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.
They just stood and stared,
And they turned all their faces away.
Every April,
I sit on me porch,
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades,
How proud they may march,
Reviving old dreams of past glories. And the old men march slowly,
Our bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war,
And the young people ask,
What are they marching for,
And I ask meself the same question.
And the old men still answer the call, But as year follows year,
More old men disappear,
Some day no-one will march there at all
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billabong,
Who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me.
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Why are there no comments on this song? Why is this the only Eric Bogle song on here? Bloody hell, this is one of the most powerful war songs ever written!
"And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be, And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity."
If this line doesn't strike emotion in it, I don't know what will. The idea that these blokes went through all this and came back to an empty dock. The war took everything away from them, and in return they get nothing more than a parade once a year...
Incredible song! I agree mates. The Pogues version is maybe better known and is Ok but somehow I prefer the original and maybe one by Davey Artur too....
somehow, without being too sentimental, it bites into the experience and scars, the sense of comradeship, isolation from those who didn't share the same experience and how time seems to remove all value of it.
The poetry is something too....
not just Aussies though mates, Canadians, Poms, Indians, Paks....USA, not to mention the poor German, Austrian lads, etc..
the song says it all.
One of the best ever 'war songs'....should never be forgotten...
One of the best ever 'war songs'....should never be forgotten...
I agree whole-heartedly mate! A fantastic song, and really epitomises the Australian fighting spirit and willingness to protect such an amazing land.
From Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5521KZ20090603)
Australia's Last World War One Soldier Dies, Aged 110 Wed Jun 3, 2009 4:00am EDT
CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - The last remaining Australian to serve in World War One has died at the age of 110, Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said on Wednesday.
John "Jack" Ross, who was also Australia's oldest man having turned 110 in March, died in his sleep early Wednesday morning at a nursing home in Bendigo in the state of Victoria.
i saw eric play this when i was about 13 when he was touring australia... i went with my dad and we both could not stop crying, it was so powerful and moving. eric bogle is one of the best folk singers ive ever heard in my life, i wish he were more well known, but i think hes pretty happy how it is now! nice bloke too, met him after the show, very friendly (and short haha)
"We buried ours, And the Turks buried theirs, Then we started all over again."
Says it all, really.
One of the things that sticks out to me the most is the fact that Eric Bogle writes that the speaker loses his legs. This tragedy is not a coincidence because the traditional song Waltzing Matilda is the pride of Australia and is about wandering about freely. He can no longer waltz his Matilda because of the war.