The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried a pack
 And I lived the free life of a rover
 From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
 I waltzed my Matilda all over
 Then in nineteen fifteen the country said Son
 There's no time for roving, there's work to be done
 And 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 our ships pulled away from the quay
 Amidst all the cheers, the flag waving and tears
 We sailed off for Gallipoli
 How well I remember that terrible day
 How our blood stained the sand and the water
 How in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
 We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
 Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
 He showered us with bullets and he rained us with shells
 And in ten minutes flat, well he'd blown us all to hell
 Nearly blew us back home to Australia
 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
 As we stopped to bury the slain
 We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
 Then we started all over again
 Well those that were left, we tried to survive
 In a mad world of blood, death and fire
 For ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
 But around me the corpses piled higher
 Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
 And when I awoke up in my hospital bed
 And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
 Never knew there were worse things than dying
 For no more I'll go 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
 They collected the crippled, the wounded and maimed
 And they shipped us on home to Australia
 The armless, the legless, the blind and insane
 All the brave wounded heroes of Suvla
 And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
 And I looked at the place where my legs used to be
 And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
 To grieve and to mourn and to pity
 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
 As they carried us down the gangway
 But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
 And then turned their faces away
 And 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
 Reliving old dreams and past glories
 But the old men march slowly, their bones stiff and sore
 Tired old men from a forgotten war
 And the young people ask me, "What are they marching for?"
 And I ask myself the same question
 And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
 And the old men still answer the call
 But year after year those old men disappear
 Some day no one will march there at all
 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
 And the old men still answer the call
 But year after year those old men disappear