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And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
John Mcdermott

Now when I was a young man and I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of the Rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty out back
I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915 my country said, Son
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
And they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As the ships pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off to Galipolli

And how I remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs to the slaughter

Johnnie Turk was ready, oh, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat we were all blown to hell
Nearly blew us all back home to Australia

But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stuck to bury our slain
We burned ours and the Turks buried theirs
And we started all over again

Those who were living just tried to survive
In a mad world of blood death and fire
And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me ares over head
And when I awoke in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done and I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying

For no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All 'round the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
No more Waltzing Matilda for me

They collected the crippled, 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 our ship pulled in to Circular Key
And I looked at the place where my legs used to be
I thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
And turned all their faces away

So now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glory

I see the old men all tired, stiff and sore
The weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask, What are they marching for?
And I ask myself the same question

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, the numbers get fewer
Some day none will march there at all

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?


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Lyrics by John Mcdermott

  Amazing Grace   America the Beautiful   And I Love You So   Annie Laurie   As Time Goes By   Auld Lang Syne   Ave Maria   Barbara Allan   Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms   Bluebells of Scotland   Body and Soul   By Yon Bonnie Banks   Christmas in The Trenches   Christmas Memories   Danny Boy   Danny Boy (Reprise)   Danny Boy [Acappella]   Daughter of Mine   Fairwell to Pripchat   Flow Gently Sweet Afton   Friend Like You   Galway Bay   Gesu Bambino   Guardian Angel   Hello in There   Here You Are   Here, There and Everywhere   Herere & Everywhere   How Insensitive (Insensatez)   I Concentrate on You   If You Never Come to Me   In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning   Instrumental Medley 1   Instrumental Medley 2   Kathleen   Lachin Y Gair   Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming   Love Is Here to Stay   Mary of Argyle   Meditation   Minstrel Boy   Mother Machree   My Ain Folk   My Bonnie   My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean   My Love is Like a Red Red Rose   Natives   No Change in Me   O Holy Night   Oh Rowan Tree   Old Tin Star   One Last Cold Kiss   One Small Star   Panis Angelicus   Postcard from Paris   Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)   Quiet Nights (Of Quiet Stars)   Scotland for Ever   Scotland The Brave   She Moved Thro' The Fair   Silent Night   Skye Boat Song   Somewhere a Child is Sleeping   Song for the Mira   Sonny's Dream   Steal Away   Suo Gan   Sweet Sister Mary   The Bard of Armaugh   The Cliffs of Dooneen   The Dutchman   The Faded Coat of Blue   The Fields of Athenry   The Girl from Ipanema   The Green Fields of France   The Green Isle of Erin   The Harp That Once   The Holly & The Ivy   The Lark in The Clear Air   The Last Rose of Summer   The Last Rose of Summer (another version)   The Massacre of Glencoe   The Meeting of the Waters   The Metting of The Waters   The Minstrel Boy   The Mountains of Mourne   The Old House   The Old Man   The Parting Glass   The Rose of Tralee   The Secret of Christmas   The Skye Boat Song   The Spanish Lady   The Spinningwheel   The Sun is Burning   This Is All I Ask   Try to Remember   Voyage   What Child is This   When I Grow Too Old to Dream   When You & I Were Young, Maggie   Wild Mountain Thyme   Winter Clothes   Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon

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