| [00:07.2] |
When I was a young man I carried my pack |
| [00:13.8] |
And I lived the free life of a rover |
| [00:20.6] |
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback |
| [00:27.7] |
I waltzed my Matilda all over |
| [00:34.3] |
Then in 1915 my country said Son |
| [00:41.2] |
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done |
| [00:47.8] |
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun |
| [00:54.8] |
And they sent me away to the war |
| [01:01.6] |
And the band played Waltzing Matilda |
| [01:08.6] |
As we sailed away from the quay |
| [01:15.1] |
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers |
| [01:22.0] |
We sailed off to Gallipoli |
| [01:28.8] |
How well I remember that terrible day |
| [01:35.5] |
When the blood stained the sand and the water |
| [01:42.8] |
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay |
| [01:49.5] |
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter |
| [01:56.3] |
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well |
| [02:03.3] |
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells |
| [02:10.2] |
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell |
| [02:16.9] |
Nearly blew us right back to Australia |
| [02:23.9] |
And the band played Waltzing Matilda |
| [02:30.9] |
As we stopped to bury our slain |
| [02:37.7] |
And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs |
| [02:44.6] |
Then we started all over again |
| [02:51.5] |
Now those that were leaving, well we tried to survive |
| [02:58.4] |
In a mad world of dark, blood and fire |
| [03:05.4] |
And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive |
| [03:12.4] |
But the corpses around me piled higher |
| [03:19.2] |
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit |
| [03:26.2] |
And when I woke up in my hospital bed |
| [03:32.7] |
And saw what it had done, Christ I wished I was dead |
| [03:40.1] |
Never knew there were worse things than dying |
| [03:46.9] |
And no more I'll go waltzing Matilda |
| [03:53.6] |
The green busher so far and near |
| [04:00.6] |
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs |
| [04:07.7] |
No more waltzing Matilda for me |
| [04:46.5] |
So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed |
| [04:54.1] |
And they shipped us back home to Australia |
| [05:01.4] |
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane |
| [05:08.2] |
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla |
| [05:14.7] |
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay |
| [05:21.5] |
I looked at the place where my legs used to be |
| [05:28.1] |
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me |
| [05:35.3] |
To grieve and to mourn and to pity |
| [05:42.0] |
And the band played Waltzing Matilda |
| [05:48.9] |
As they carried us down the gangway |
| [05:55.8] |
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared |
| [06:02.7] |
Then turned all their faces away |
| [06:09.7] |
And now every April I sit on my porch |
| [06:16.4] |
And I watch the parade pass before me |
| [06:23.4] |
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march |
| [06:30.0] |
Reliving old dreams of past glory |
| [06:37.0] |
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore |
| [06:44.0] |
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war |
| [06:50.7] |
And the young people ask me , "Who are the they marching for?" |
| [06:57.8] |
And I ask myself the same question |
| [07:04.4] |
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda |
| [07:11.1] |
And the old men answer to the call |
| [07:08.6] |
But year after year their numbers get fewer |
| [07:24.6] |
Some day no one will march there at all |
| [07:31.5] |
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda |
| [07:38.8] |
Who'll got a long sing waltzing Matilda with me |
