[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