Waltzing my Matilda Eric Bogle G5 C5 D5 G5 When I was a young man I carried my pack G5 D5 C5 G5 And I lived the free life of a rover G5 C5 D5 G5 From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback G5 D5 G5 I waltzed my Matilda all over G5 D5 C5 G5 Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son G5 D5 C5 G5 It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done G5 C5 D5 G5 So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun G5 D5 C5 G5 And they sent me away to the war G5 C5 G5 And the band played Waltzing Matilda G5 C5 D5 As we sailed away from the quay C5 G5 C5 And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers G5 D5 C5 G5 We sailed off for Gallipoli G5 C5 D5 G5 How well I remember that terrible day G5 D5 C5 G5 When the blood stained the sand and the water G5 C5 D5 G5 And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay G5 D5 C5 G5 We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter G5 D5 C5 G5 Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well D5 C5 G5 He shot us with bullets, he rained us with shells G5 C5 D5 G5 And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell G5 D5 C5 G5 Nearly blew us right back to Australia G5 C5 G5 And the band played Waltzing Matilda G5 C5 D5 As we stopped to bury our slain C5 G5 C5 We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs C5 G5 D5 C5 G5 And it started all over again G5 C5 D5 G5 Now those who were living did their best to survive G5 D5 C5 G5 In that mad world of death, blood and fire G5 C5 D5 G5 And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive G5 D5 C5 G5 While the corpses around me piled higher G5 D5 C5 G5 Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit D5 C5 G5 And when I woke up in my hospital bed G5 C5 D5 G5 And saw what it had done, Christ I wished I was dead G5 D5 C5 G5 Never knew there were worse things than dying G5 C5 G5 For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda G5 C5 D5 To the green bushes so far and near D5 C5 G5 C5 For to hang tent and pegs, a man needs two legs C5 G5 D5 C5 G5 No more waltzing Matilda for me G5 C5 D5 G5 So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed G5 D5 C5 G5 And they shipped us back home to Australia G5 C5 D5 G5 The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane G5 D5 C5 G5 Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla G5 D5 C5 G5 And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay D5 C5 G5 I looked at the place where my legs used to be G5 C5 D5 G5 And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me G5 D5 C5 G5 To grieve and to mourn and to pity G5 C5 G5 And the band played Waltzing Matilda G5 C5 D5 As they carried us down the gangway C5 G5 C5 But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared G5 D5 C5 G5 Then turned all their faces away G5 C5 D5 G5 And now every April I sit on my porch G5 D5 C5 G5 And I watch the parade pass before me G5 C5 D5 G5 I see my old comrades, how proudly they march G5 D5 C5 G5 Reliving the dreams of past glory D5 C5 G5 I see the old men, all twisted and torn D5 C5 G5 The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war G5 C5 D5 G5 And the young people ask me, "What are they marching for?" G5 D5 C5 G5 And I ask myself the same question G5 C5 G5 And the band plays Waltzing Matilda G5 C5 D5 And the old men still answer the call C5 G5 C5 But year after year their numbers get fewer G5 D5 C5 G5 Some day no one will march there at all G5 C5 Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda G5 C5 G5 D5 Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me G5 D5 And their ghosts may be heard G5 C5 As they march beside the billabong G5 D5 G5 Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
