The Band Played Waltzing Matilda ukulele

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

• G

     G       C           G             
When I was a young man I carried my pack
      Em              Am     D7      G
And I lived the free life of the rover
                        C            G          
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback
  Em             Am   D7     G
I waltzed my Matilda all over
        D       C             G
Then in 1915 me country said, Son
     D                             C          G
It's time to stop rambling there's work to be done
                                    D7         
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun
                   D7         G
And they sent me away to the war
     G                   C          Am D7
     And the band played Waltzing Matilda
            G            C            D7
     As our ship pulled away from the quay
                        Am           E7         
     And amidst all the cheers, flag-waving and tears
        G              Am7  D7 G
     We sailed off for Gallipoli
        G        C           G        
And how well I remember that terrible day
         Em                Am        D7    G
When the blood stained the sand and the water
                C              G          
And how in that town that day called Suvla Bay
        Em             Am           D7    G
We were butchered like lambs to the slaughter
       D                       C              G
Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well
   D                              C               G
He chased us with bullets, and he rained us with shells
                              D7             
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
                               G
Nearly blew us back home to Australia
     G                   C           Am D7
     And the band played Waltzing Matilda
            G           C        D7
     As we stopped to bury our slain
               Am           E7      
     We burned ours and the Turks burned theirs
             G           Am7   D7 G
     Then we started all over again
     G              C              G              
Now those that were left, well, we tried to survive
        Em           Am           D7  G
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
                  C            G          
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
       Em           Am         D7  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
                                   D7         
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead
                     D7                G
Never knew there was worse things than dying
     G                   C         Am  D7
     For I'll go no more Waltzing Matilda
         G                C            D7
     All around the green bush far and near
                      Am     E7             
     To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
             G           Am7  D7  G  
     No more Waltzing Matilda for me
        G             C            G              
So they collected the cripples,the wounded and maimed
         Em              Am         D7  G
And they shipped us back home to Australia
                 C            G              
The armless, the legless, the blind, and insane
      Em             Am    D7  G
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
    D                         C        G
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
  D                            C            G
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
                                D7      
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
                D7            G
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
      G                   C           Am D7
     And the band played Waltzing Matilda
             G          C        D7
     As they carried us down the gangway
                 Am                E7            
     But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
               G                Am7   D7 G
     Then they turned all their faces away
   G          C        G          
And now every April I sit on my porch
      Em          Am         D7    G
And I watch the parade pass before me
             C            G              
I see my old comrades how proudly they march
  Em         Am        D7   G
Renewing old dreams of past glory
        D                         C               G
And the old men march slowly, all bent stiff and sore
        D                    C         G
They're tired old men from a forgotten war
                                     D7       
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
             D7            G
And I ask myself the same question
     G                   C           Am D7
     And the band played Waltzing Matilda
             G             C          D7  
     And the old men still answer the call
                    Am         E7        
     But year after year their numbers get fewer
             G           Am7         D7  G
     Someday no one will march there at all
G                 C
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
G                                   D7
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
          G             D7            G            C
And their ghosts may be heard as they pass by the Billabong
G                         D7        G
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

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