I've been reading a lot about the term "Waltzing Mathilda", trying hard to find out what it is about.
What i have found out: it has something to do with an Australian folk song, but then the walking soldiers backpack in Vietnam War was called "Waltzing Mathilda" as it looked like a kind of dancing girl on the soldier walking in front. This song was written in 1976, end time of the Vietnam War. It seems like "Waltzing with Mathilda" is (or was) a synonym for going to war in general. In the bad way, not in the ideal of becoming a hero, young and idealistic... Just going into that hell. The soldier in this song has seen too much already, knows, that he is going to be killed or to kill others. Has been injured and has seen many deaths and cruelties.
Now, in the little meantime, he tries to kill his traumatic experiences and his own feelings with women and drugs (alcohol).
"Tom Traubert's Blues" (the original title, by Tom Waits) is a very intense, impressive and poetic Anti-War-Song.
I've been reading a lot about the term "Waltzing Mathilda", trying hard to find out what it is about. What i have found out: it has something to do with an Australian folk song, but then the walking soldiers backpack in Vietnam War was called "Waltzing Mathilda" as it looked like a kind of dancing girl on the soldier walking in front. This song was written in 1976, end time of the Vietnam War. It seems like "Waltzing with Mathilda" is (or was) a synonym for going to war in general. In the bad way, not in the ideal of becoming a hero, young and idealistic... Just going into that hell. The soldier in this song has seen too much already, knows, that he is going to be killed or to kill others. Has been injured and has seen many deaths and cruelties. Now, in the little meantime, he tries to kill his traumatic experiences and his own feelings with women and drugs (alcohol). "Tom Traubert's Blues" (the original title, by Tom Waits) is a very intense, impressive and poetic Anti-War-Song.
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