The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Lyrics

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda lyrics

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?