Eric Bogle - And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Chords & Tabs

     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
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     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?