And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

	  		Intro:  E   A   E   A 

V1 
     E       A           E          C#m    
When I was a young man I carried me pack, 
      E              B         E 
And I lived the free life of a rover. 
                        A            E        C#m   
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback, 
  E            B         E 
I waltzed my Matilda all over. 

V2 
        B       A             E 
Then in 1915 me country said, Son, 
     B                                 A          E 
It's time you stopped rambling there's work to be done. 
                  A                 E         C#m 
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, 
         E            B         E 
And they marched me away to the war. 


 
E                   A           E 
And the band played Waltzing Matilda, 
                      A            B     Bsus4  B 
When the ship pulled away from the quay. 
     A             F#m         E          C#m 
And amidst all the tears, flag-waving and cheers, 
   E              B      E    Esus4  E 
We sailed off for Gallipoli. 


V3 
        E        A           E        C#m 
And how well I remember that terrible day, 
         E                 B            E 
When our blood stained the sand and the water. 
                A              E          C#m 
And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay, 
        E              B            E 
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter. 

V4 
       B                       A              E 
Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well, 
   B                              A                E 
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells. 
                    A         E               C#m 
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell, 
       E            B            E 
Nearly blew us back home to Australia. 

 
E                   A           E 
And the band played Waltzing Matilda, 
                   A        B     Bsus4  B 
When we stopped to bury our slain. 
A         F#m            E            C#m 
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, 
        E           B      E    Esus4  E 
Then we started all over again. 


V5 
     E              A              E           C#m    
And those that were left, well, we tried to survive, 
        E            B                E 
In that mad world of blood, death and fire. 
                  A            E       C#m   
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive, 
        E           B             E 
While around me the corpses piled higher. 

V6 
       B                            A         E 
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head, 
    B                  A        E 
And when I awoke in me hospital bed. 
                    A             E            C#m 
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead, 
      E              B                 E 
Never knew there was worse things than dying. 

V7 
E                  A           E 
So no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda, 
                     A            B     Bsus4  B 
All around the green bush far and near. 
   A             F#m     E              C#m 
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs, 
        E           B        E   Esus4  E 
No more Waltzing Matilda for me. 

V8 
        E            A            E             C#m    
So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed, 
         E               B            E 
And they shipped us back home to Australia. 
                 A            E            C#m   
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane, 
      E             B         E 
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla. 

V9 
    B                         A        E 
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay, 
  B                            A            E 
I looked at the place where me legs used to be. 
                             A            E           C#m 
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me, 
   E             B            E 
To grieve and to mourn and to pity. 

 
E                   A           E 
And the band played Waltzing Matilda, 
                     A            B    Bsus4  B 
When they carried us down the gangway. 
    A      F#m                 E               C#m 
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared, 
          E                B      E   Esus4  E 
Then they turned all their faces away. 


V10 
   E         A       E         C#m    
So now every April I sit on my porch, 
      E            B          E 
And I watch the parade pass before me. 
             A            E            C#m   
I see my old comrades how proudly they march, 
  E          B              E 
Renewing old dreams of past glory. 

V11 
        B                         A               E 
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore, 
        B                       A         E 
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war. 
                     A               E             C#m 
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?" 
    E       B             E 
And I ask myself the same question. 

 
E                  A           E 
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda, 
                      A          B    Bsus4  B 
And the old men still answer the call. 
    A          F#m         E           C#m 
But year after year their numbers are fewer, 
        E           B              E   Esus4  E 
Someday no one will march there at all.
 

Outro: 
E                 A 
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, 
E                                   B 
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me? 
          E             B        C#m                A 
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong, 
A             E          B7         E 
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?