Irish Folksongs And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Lyrics

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Lyrics

When I was a young man, I carried my pack

And I lived the free life of a
rover

From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback

I waltzed
my matilda all over

Then in nineteen fifteen, my country said, "Son

It's time to stop ramblin' for 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



Chorus:

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda"

As the
ship sailed away from the quay

Amid all the tears, the flag-waving and
cheers

We sailed off for Gallipoli



How well I remember that
terrible day

When our blood stained the sand and the water

And how
in that hell that they call Suvla Bay

We were butchered like lambs at the
slaughter

Johnny Turk was ready, Lord he primed himself well

He
rained us with bullets and he showered us with shells

In five minutes
flat, we were all blown to hell

Nearly blew us back home to Australia



Chorus:

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda"

As we
stopped to bury our slain

We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs

Then it started all over again



And those who were living just
tried to survive

In that mad world of blood, death and, fire

For
ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive

While around me the corpses piled
higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me ass over head

And when I
awoke, in a hospital bed

And saw what it had done, I wished I were dead

I never knew there were worse things than dying



Chorus:

For no more I'll go waltzing matilda

All around the green bush far and
near

But to hunt and to pace, a man needs both legs

No more waltzing
matilda for me



They collected the wounded, the crippled, the
maimed

And they shipped us