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A D A F#m
When I was a young man I carried my pack
A E A
And I lived the free life of a rover.
D A F#m
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
A E A
I waltzed my Matilda all over.
E D A
Then in 1915 me country said, ?Son
E D A
It's time to stop rambling ?cause there?s work to be done.?
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So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun
A E A
And they sent me away to the war.
A D A
And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
D E
When we sailed away from the quay,
D Bm A F#m
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and cheers
A E A
We sailed off for Gallipoli.
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And how well I remember that terrible day
A E A
When our blood stained the sand and the water
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And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
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We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
E D A
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he'd primed himself well.
E D A
He shot us with bullets, and he rained us with shells,
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And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell,
A E A
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.
A D A
And the band played ?Waltzing Matilda?
D E
As we stopped to bury our slain.
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And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs.
A E A
Then it started all over again.
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Now, those who were living did their best to survive
A E A
In that mad world of guts, blood and fire,
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And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive
A E A
While 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 awoke in me hospital bed
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And saw what it had done, Christ! I wished I was dead.
A E A
Never knew there was worse things than dying.
A D A
And no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
A D E
Through the green bushes so far and near,
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For to hang tents and pegs a man needs two legs.
A E A
No more waltzing Matilda for me.
(Instrumental break: verse)
A D A F#m
So they collected the the crippled, the wounded and maimed
A E A
And they shipped us back home to Australia,
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The the legless, the armless, the blind and insane?
A E A
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
E D A
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
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I looked at the place where me legs used to be
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And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
A E A
To grieve and to mourn and to pity.
A D A
And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
A D E
As they carried us down the gangway,
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But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
A E A
And they turned all their faces away.
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And now every April I sit on my porch
A E A
And I watch the parade pass before me.
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I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
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Reliving the dreams of past glory.
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I see the old men all twisted and torn,
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The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war,
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And the young people ask me, 'What are they marching for?'
A E A
And I ask myself the same question.
A D A
And the band plays ?Waltzing Matilda,?
D E
And the old men still answer the call,
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But year after year their numbers are fewer.
A E A
Someday no one will march there at all.
A D Bm
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
A F#m E
Who'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me?
A E F#m D
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong:
D A D7 A
'Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?