G C G Em When I was a young man I carried me 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 me country said, Son D C G It's time you stopped rambling 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 marched me away to the war G C G And the band played Waltzing Matilda C D Dsus4 When the ship pulled away from the quay C Am G Em And amidst all the tears, flag-waving and cheers G D G Gsus4 We sailed off for Gallipoli G C G Em And how well I remember that terrible day G D G When our 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 rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells C G Em And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell G D G Nearly blew us back home to Australia G C G And the band played Waltzing Matilda C D DDus4 When we stopped to bury our slain C Am G Em We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs G D G Gsus4 Then we started all over again G C G Em And those that were left, well, we tried to survive G D G In that mad world of blood, death and fire C G Em And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive G D G While around me the corpses piled higher D C G Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head D C G And when I awoke in me hospital bed C G Em And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead G D G Never knew there was worse things than dying G C G So no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda C D Dsus4 All around the green bush far and near C Am G Em To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs G D G Gsus4 No more Waltzing Matilda for me G C G Em So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed G D G And they shipped us back home to Australia C G Em The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane G D G Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla D C G And when 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 no one there waiting for me G D G To grieve and to mourn and to pity G C G And the band played Waltzing Matilda C D Dsus4 When they carried us down the gangway C Am G Em But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared G D G Gsus4 Then they turned all their faces away G C G Em So 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 Renewing old dreams of past glory D C G And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore D C G They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war C G Em And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?" G D G And I ask myself the same question G C G And the band plays Waltzing Matilda C D Dsus4 And the old men still answer the call C Am G Em But year after year their numbers are fewer G D G Gsus4 Someday no one will march there at all G C Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda G D Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me? G D Em C And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong C G D7 G Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?