Song lyrics And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Joan Baez

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried me pack
I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green banks to the dusty outback
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
Time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
And they gave me a tin hat, they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As the ship sailed away from the quay
Midst the songs and the cheers, flag waving and tears
We sailed off for Gallipoli

It's well I remember that terrible day
Our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell we call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
The big Turkish shell caught me arse over head
And when I awoke in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dying

For I'll go no more Waltzing Matilda
All along the green land running free
For to hunt and to pace, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

They gathered the injured, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as the ship sailed into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody there waiting for me
To mourn and to grieve and to pity

And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
As they wheeled us down the gangway
And nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

And the band still plays Waltzing Matilda
And the young men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more young men disappear
Someday, no one will march here at all
Taken from AlbumSongAndLyrics.com
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?