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Tunie: And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

A list of 78 words by chained_bear.

About

I used to sing this as a lullaby to my spawn—till said spawn grew big enough to understand the words, and asked me to sing something else.

Written by Eric Bogle, c. 1971.

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 1915, 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 to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day

How 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, he rained us with shells

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

Nearly blew us right back to Australia

But the band played Waltzing Matilda as we stopped to bury our slain

We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive

In a 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 tit

And when I woke up in my hospital bed

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

Never knew there were worse things than dying

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda

All around the green bush far and near

For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs—

No more waltzing Matilda for me.

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed

And they shipped us back home to Australia.

The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane—

Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla

And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay

I looked at the place where my 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

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 watch my old comrades, how proudly they march, reliving old dreams of past glory

And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore

The forgotten heroes 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, their numbers get fewer—

Someday no one will march there at all.

Waltzing matilda, Waltzing natilda

Who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me?

And their ghosts may be heard as you pass by the billabong

Who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me?

Comments

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  • oroboros commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    Only you, c_b, would sing this to her spawn! :o)

    May 8, 2010

  • chained_bear commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    I was going to say "Nah! I'm sure lots of other..." but then, you're probably correct.

    May 8, 2010

  • plethora commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    I get a tingle down my spine and tears in my eyes just reading the lyrics to this song.

    May 8, 2010

  • chained_bear commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    Hey! I'm not alone! :)

    May 8, 2010

  • john commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    You're not alone either of you—this song always gets me choked up, and I sang it to Z a hundred times when she was tiny and couldn't sleep. Poor kid's bad luck to have a dad who only knows the words to murder ballads, drinking songs, and heartbreakers like this.

    May 8, 2010

  • plethora commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    Could be worse. My mama apparently sang the Song of the Vulga Boatsmen to me as a child, to bore me to sleep*.

    *Her words, not mine.

    May 8, 2010

  • yarb commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    I think I might have also sung this once or twice to disgruntled infants, though nowhere near the whole thing. It really is a great lullaby.

    May 8, 2010

  • yarb commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    And I get the tingle too, pleth.

    May 8, 2010

  • pterodactyl commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    American radio host Garrison Keillor did a version of this song with Americanized lyrics, which you can read here. It's okay, but I much prefer the original version of the song -- like plethora, I get tears and tingles when I hear it.

    May 8, 2010

  • chained_bear commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    That's really interesting, ptero. You know what's most interesting/saddest of all? They hardly had to change any words, especially to the second verse.

    You know what else gives me the tingles/chills (well, a lot of songs do, actually) is the song "No Man's Land." I did a Tunie for that one too. I should learn the words better, since I've got a cub who needs lullabye-in' now.

    May 10, 2010

  • ruzuzu commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    Has anyone made a list of "murder ballads, drinking songs, and heartbreakers" that make great lullabies?

    May 10, 2010

  • chained_bear commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda

    I'd be down with doing a joint list with John, if he were so inclined. *musing* Here.

    May 10, 2010