The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

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 rambling 'cause 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 we sailed away from the quay

And amidst all the tears

And the shouts and the cheers

We sailed off for Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day

When the 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, he primed himself well

He showered us with bullets and he rained us with shells

And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell

Nearly blew us right back to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

As we stopped to bury our slain

And we buried ours

And the Turks buried theirs

Then it started all over again

Now those who were living did their best to survive

In that mad world of death, blood and fire

And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive

Though the corpses around me piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse-over-tit

And when I awoke in my hospital bed

And saw what it had done, Christ, I wished I was dead

Never knew there were worse things than dying

And no more I'll go waltzing Matilda

To the green bushes so far and near

For to hang tent and pegs

A man needs two legs

No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded and maimed

And they shipped us back home to Australia

The legless, the armless, the blind and 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 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 and stared

And they turned their faces away

And 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

Reliving the dreams of past glory

I see the old men, all twisted and torn

The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war

And the young people ask me

"What are they marching for?"

And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda

And the old men still answer to the call

But year after year their numbers get fewer

Someday no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

Who'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me?