Band Played Waltzing Matilda *

Eric Bogle

     G       C           G          Em  

When I was a young man I carried my pack

      G              D         G

And I lived the free life of a rover

                        C            G        Em 

From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback

  G             D        G

I waltzed my Matilda all over

 

        D       C             G

Then in 1915 my country said, Son

     D                                      C          G

It's time to stop rambling cause there's work to be done

                  C                 G         Em

So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun

         G            D         G

And they send me away to the war

 

 

[Chorus]

 

     G                   C           G

     And the band played Waltzing Matilda

                      C           D   Dsus4  D

     As we sailed away from the quay

           C            Am          G          Em

     And amidst all the tears, and the shouts and the cheers

        G              D      G  Gsus4  G

     We sailed off for Gallipoli

 

 

[Verse]

 

    G        C           G        Em

how well I remember that terrible day

         G                 D            G

When the blood stained the sand and the water

                C              G          Em

And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay

        G              D            G

We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

 

       D                       C              G

Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well

   D                              C                G

He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shells

                    C         G               Em

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

       G            D        G

Nearly blew us right back to Australia

 

 

[Chorus]

 

     G                   C           G

     And the band played Waltzing Matilda

                        C        D   Dsus4  D

     As we stopped to bury our slain

     C           Am            G            Em

     And we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs

             G           D      G  Gsus4  G

     Then it started all over again

 

 

[Verse]

 

     G              C              G           Em  

Now those that were left, did their best to survive

        G            D                G

In that mad world of death blood and fire

                  C            G        Em 

And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive

        G           D             G

While the corpses around me piled higher

 

       D                            C         G

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit

    D                  C        G

And when I awoke in my hospital bed

                    C             G            Em

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

      G              D                 G

Never knew there were worse things than dying

 

 

[Chorus]

 

     G                  C           G

     And no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda

                          C        D   Dsus4  D

     To the green bush so far and near

        C             Am     G              Em

     For to hang tent and pegs, a man needs two legs

             G           D        G  Gsus4  G

     No more Waltzing Matilda for me

 

 

[Verse]

 

        G            C            G             Em  

So they collected the crippled, the wounded and maimed

         G               D            G

And they shipped us back home to Australia

                 C            G            Em 

The the legless, armless, the blind, and insane

      G             D         G

Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla

 

    D                         C        G

And as the ship pulled into Circular Quay

  D                            C            G

I looked at the place where me legs used to be

                             C            G           Em

And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me

   G             D            G

To grieve and to mourn and to pity

 

 

[Chorus]

 

     G                   C           G

     And the band played Waltzing Matilda

                          C            D   Dsus4  D

     As they carried us down the gangway

         C      Am                 G               Em

     But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared

               G            D      G  Gsus4  G

     Then they turned their faces away

 

 

[Verse]

 

   G         C       G         Em  

And now every April I sit on my porch

      G            D          G

And I watch the parade pass before me

             C            G            Em 

I see my old comrades how proudly they march

  G          D              G

Reliving the dreams of past glory

 

        D                         C               G

I see the old men all twisted and torn

        D                       C         G

The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war

                     C               G             Em

And the young people ask me, "What are they marching for?"

    G       D             G

And I ask myself the same question

 

 

[Chorus]

 

     G                  C           G

     And the band plays Waltzing Matilda

                           C          D   Dsus4  D

     And the old men still answer the call

         C          Am         G           Em

     But year after year their numbers get fewer

             G           D              G  Gsus4  G

     Someday no one will march there at all

 

 

[Verse]

 

G                 C

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda

G                                   D

Who'll go a-Waltzing Matilda with me?