When I was a young man I carried me pack

And I lived the free life of a rover

From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback

I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915 me country said, Son

It's time you stopped rambling there's work to be done

So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun

And they marched me away to the war

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

[ Tab from: http://www.guitaretab.com/e/eric-bogle/248424.html ]

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?