And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

About the Song

Written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971, this is one of the most powerful anti-war songs ever written. It tells the story of a young Australian soldier who is sent to fight at the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 and returns home horrifically wounded.

Historical Context

The song references the Gallipoli Campaign (1915-1916), where Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops suffered devastating losses against Ottoman Turkish forces at Suvla Bay. ANZAC Day (April 25) remains Australia's most solemn day of remembrance.

Video

Lyrics

When I was a young man I carried my 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 my country said "Son,

It's time to stop 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

As the ship pulled away from the quay

And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears

We sailed off for Gallipoli

And how well I remember that terrible day

How our blood stained the sand and the water

And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay

We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

Johnny Turk, he was waiting, he'd primed himself well

He showered us with bullets and he rained us with shell

And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell

Nearly blew us right back to Australia

But the band played Waltzing Matilda

When we stopped to bury our slain

We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs

Then it started all over again

And those that were left, well we tried to survive

In that mad world of blood, death and fire

And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive

Though around me the corpses piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head

And when I woke up in my hospital bed

And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead

Never knew there were worse things than dying

For I'll go no more Waltzing Matilda

All around the green bush far and free

To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs

No more Waltzing Matilda for me

So they gathered 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 into Circular Quay

I looked at the place where me legs used to be

And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me

To grieve, to mourn, and to pity

But the band played Waltzing Matilda

As they carried us down the gangway

But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared

Then they turned all their faces away

And so now every April I sit on my porch

And I watch the parade pass before me

I see my old comrades, how proudly they march

Reviving old dreams of past glories

And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore

They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war

And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"

And I ask myself the same question

But the band plays Waltzing Matilda

And the old men still answer the call

But as year follows year, more old men disappear

Someday no one will march there at all