This is played in the key of A. There are extra chords needed to be worked out so this song plays out as well as John sings it # A D A When I was a young man I carried a pack E A I lived the free life of the rover. A D A From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, E A I waltzed my Matilda all over. E D A Then in 1915, my country said, "Son, E D A There's no time for roving, there's work to be done." D A And they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, E A And they sent me away to the war. D A And the band played "Waltzing Matilda," D E As the ship pulled away from the quay, D A F#m And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving and tears, E A We set off for Gallipoli. D A How well I remember that terrible day, E A When our blood stained the sand and the water; D A And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay E A We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter. F#m E D A Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he'd primed himself well; F#m E D A He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell D A And in five minutes flat, well he'd blew us to hell, ? E A He nearly blew us right back to Australia. D A And the band played "Waltzing Matilda," D E As we stopped to bury our slain, D A We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, E A Then we started all over again. D A So those who were left, just tried to survive E A In that mad world of blood, death and fire. D A And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive E A As the corpses around me piled higher. E D A Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head, E D A And when I woke up in me hospital bed D A I saw what it had done, and I wished I was dead � E A Then I knew there was worse things than dying. D A And I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda," D E All through the green bush far and free � D A To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs, E A No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me. D A They collected the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, E A Shipped us all back to Australia. D A The legless, the armless, the blind and insane, E A Those brave wounded heroes of Suvla. E D A And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, E D A I looked at the place where me legs used to be, D A And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, E A To mourn, and to grieve, and to pity. A D A And the band played "Waltzing Matilda," D E As they carried us down the gangway, D A Nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, E A Then they turned all their faces away. D A And now every April, I sit on my porch E A As I watch the parade pass before me. D A I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, E A Reviving old dreams of past glories, E D A The old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore, E D A Tired old men from a tirred old war D A And the young people ask "What are they marching for?" E A And I ask meself the same question. D A And the band plays "Waltzing Matilda," D E As the old men still answer the call, D A And year after year, more old men disappear E A Soon none of them will march there at all. A D Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda. A D A E Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? A E A D And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong, A D E A Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?