And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
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
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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?