(Intro} EAEA
(V1)
EAEC#m
When I was a young man I carried me pack,
EBE
And I lived the free life of a rover.
AEC#m
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback,
EBE
I waltzed my Matilda all over.
(V2)
BAE
Then in 1915 me country said, Son,
BAE
It's time you stopped rambling there's work to be done.
AEC#m
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
EBE
And they marched me away to the war.
(Chorus)
EAE
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
ABBsus4B
When the ship pulled away from the quay.
AF#mEC#m
And amidst all the tears, flag-waving and cheers,
EBEEsus4E
We sailed off for Gallipoli.
(V3):
EAEC#m
And how well I remember that terrible day,
EBE
When our blood stained the sand and the water.
AEC#m
And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay,
EBE
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
(V4)
BAE
Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well,
BAE
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells.
AEC#m
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell,
EBE
Nearly blew us back home to Australia.
(Chorus)
EAE
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
ABBsus4B
When we stopped to bury our slain.
AF#mEC#m
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
EBEEsus4E
Then we started all over again.
(V5)
EAEC#m
And those that were left, well, we tried to survive,
EBE
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
AEC#m
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive,
EBE
While around me the corpses piled higher.
(V6)
BAE
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
BAE
And when I awoke in me hospital bed.
AEC#m
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead,
EBE
Never knew there was worse things than dying.
(V7)
EAE
So no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda,
ABBsus4B
All around the green bush far and near.
AF#mEC#m
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs,
EBEEsus4E
No more Waltzing Matilda for me.
(V8)
EAEC#m
So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed,
EBE
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
AEC#m
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
EBE
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
(V9)
BAE
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay,
BAE
I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
AEC#m
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me,
EBE
To grieve and to mourn and to pity.
(Chorus)
EAE
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
ABBsus4B
When they carried us down the gangway.
AF#mEC#m
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared,
EBEEsus4E
Then they turned all their faces away.
(V10)
EAEC#m
So now every April I sit on my porch,
EBE
And I watch the parade pass before me.
AEC#m
I see my old comrades how proudly they march,
EBE
Renewing old dreams of past glory.
(V11)
BAE
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
BAE
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war.
AEC#m
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
EBE
And I ask myself the same question.
(Chorus)
EAE
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
ABBsus4B
And the old men still answer the call.
AF#mEC#m
But year after year their numbers are fewer,
EBEEsus4E
Someday no one will march there at all.
{Outro}
EA
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
EB
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
EBC#mA
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong,
AEB7E
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?