And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda Chords & Lyrics by Eric Bogle
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
guitar chords lyrics
G C G Em
When I was a young man I carried me 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 1915 me country said, Son
D C G
It's time you stopped 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 marched me away to the war
G C G
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
C D Dsus4 D
When the ship pulled away from the quay
C Am G Em
And amidst all the tears, flag-waving and cheers
G D G Gsus4 G
We sailed off for Gallipoli
G C G Em
And how 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 that they call Suvla Bay
G D G
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
D C G
Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well
D C G
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells
C G Em
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
G D G
Nearly blew us back home to Australia
G C G
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
C D Dsus4 D
When we stopped to bury our slain
C Am G Em
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs
G D G Gsus4 G
Then we started all over again
G C G Em
And those that were left, well, we 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
While 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, well, I wished I was dead
G D G
Never knew there was worse things than dying
G C G
So no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
C D Dsus4 D
All around the green bush far and near
C Am G Em
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
G D G Gsus4 G
No more Waltzing Matilda for me
G C G Em
So they gathered 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, 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 legs used to be
C G Em
And thanked Christ there was no one there 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 Dsus4 D
When they carried us down the gangway
C Am G Em
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
G D G Gsus4 G
Then they turned all their faces away
G C G Em
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 old dreams of past glory
D C G
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore
D C G
They're tired old heroes from 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 Dsus4 D
And the old men still answer the call
C Am G Em
But year after year their numbers are fewer
G D G Gsus4 G
Someday no one will march there at all
G C
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
G D
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
G D Em C
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong
C G D7 G
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
