And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried a 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 roving, 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 our ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How 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 waiting, he'd primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in tenminutes flat, he blew us half to hell
Nearly blew us back 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 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 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

For I'll go no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the wild bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

Then they gathered  the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they sent us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and insane
Those brave wounded heroes of Suvla
And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked 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
Then they turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reviving old dreams of past glory
The old men march slowly old bones stiff and sore
Tired old men from 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, more old men disappear
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? 

(C) Eric Bogle

(I've heard Bolgle sing this song many times and I have several different versions on record and CD - this is the way I sing it)