The band played "Waltzing Matilda" (midi)

G C G Em

1. When I was a young man I carried my 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 nineteen fifteen me country said, 'Son,

D C G

it's time to stop 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 sent me away to the war.

G C G

And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'

C D

when the ship pulled away from the quay.

C G Em

And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers,

G D G

we sailed off for Galipoli.

G C G Em

2. Oh it's 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 they called Suvla Bay

G D G

we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.

D C G

Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well

D C G

he rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell.

C G Em

And in five minutes flat we were all blown to hell,

G D G

he nearly blew us back home to Australia.

G C G

And the band played Waltzing Matilda,

C D

when we stopped to bury our slain.

C G Em

While we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs,

G D G

then it started all over again.

G C G Em

3. Oh, those that were living just 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

when 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, I wished I was dead,

G D G

I never knew there was worse things than dying.

G C G

For no more I'll go 'Waltzing Matilda',

C D

all around the green bush, far and near.

C G Em

For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs,

G D G

no more 'Waltzing Matilda' for me.

G C G Em

4. They collected 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 and 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 leg used to be.

C G Em

And thanked Christ, there was no one a 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

while they carried us down the gangway.

C G Em

Oh, nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared,

G D G

then they turned all those faces away.

G C G Em

5. 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 the dreams of past glory.

D C G

I see the old men, all tired, stiff and worn,

D C G

those weary old heroes of 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

and the old men still answer the call.

C G Em

But year after year their number'll get fewer,

G D G

some day no one will march there at all.

G C

Waltzing matilda', waltzing matilda,

G Em Am D

who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me ?

G D C Am

And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong,

G Em D G

oh, who'll come a-waltzing matilda with me?

(Dubliners)