And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Intro each verse & Chorus Intro Now when verse 1 I was a young man I carried me pack And I lived the free life of a rover From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Out-back I waltzed my Matilda all over Then in nineteen fif-teen me 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 Chorus 1 And the band played Waltzing Ma-tilda When the ship pulled away from the quay And a-mid all the tears, flag-waving and cheers We sailed off for Ga-llip-o-li verse 2 And how I re-member 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 he was ready, he'd primed himself well He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells And in five minutes flat we were all blown to hell Nearly blew us back home to Au-stralia Chorus 2 And the band played Waltzing Ma-tilda When we stopped to bury our slain We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs Then we started all over a-gain verse 3 And those that were left, just tried to sur-vive In that mad world of blood, death and fire And for ten weary weeks I kept myself a-live While a-round me the corpses piled higher Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head And when I a-woke in me hospital bed And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead Never knew there was worse things than dying Chorus 3 So no more I'll go Waltzing Ma-tilda All a-round the green bush far and near For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs No more Waltzing Ma-tilda for me verse 4 So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed And they shipped us back home to Au-stralia The armless, the legless, the blind, the in-sane 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 thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me To grieve and to mourn and to pity Chorus 4 And the band played Waltzing Ma-tilda When they carried us down the gangway But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared Then they turned all their faces a-way Verse 5 So now every April I sit on my porch And I watch the par-ade pass be-fore me I see my old comrades how proudly they march Re-newing old dreams of past glory I see the old men, all tired, stiff and sore The weary old heroes from a forgotten war And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?" And I ask my-self the same question Chorus 5 And the band plays Waltzing Ma-tilda And the old men still answer the call But year after year their numbers get fewer Someday no one will march there at all Verse 6 is strumming - 4/4 timing Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda Who'll come a-Waltzing Ma-tilda with me? And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong Who'll come a-Waltzing Ma-tilda with me?