And The Band Played Eric Bogle
[C]When I was a [F]young man I [C]carried a p[Am]ack
and I [C]lived the free [G7]life of a [C]rover.
From the Murray's green [F]banks to the [C]dusty out[Am]back
I [C]waltzed my [G7]Matilda all [C]over.
Then in [G7]nineteen fifteen my [F]country said "[C]son",
There's [G7]no time for rovin' there's [F]work to be [C]done!
And they [C]gave me a [F]tin hat and[C] gave me a [Am]gun
And they [C]marched me [G7]away to the [C]war.
Chorus
[C]And the band played [F]Waltzing Mat[C]ilda
As the ship pulled away from the [G]quay,
[G7] and [F]amidst all the cheers, the flag [C]waving and [F]tears,
We [C]sailed off for [G7]Gallipo[C]li
2.
How well I remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johhny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well
He showered us with bullets, and rained us with shell,
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us to hell
Nearly blew us right back 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
3.
They collected the crippled, the wounded and maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless the legless, the blind and insane,
All the brave wounded heroes of Suvla
And when our ship pulled in to Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where my legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me -
To grieve, 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 they turned all their faces away.
4.
And so now every April I sit on my porch,
And I watch the parade pass before me,
And I see my old comrades how proudly they march,
Re-living old dreams and past glories,
But the old men march slowly their bones stiff and sore,
Tired old men from a tired old war,
And the young people ask what are they marching for,
And I ask myself the same question.
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call,
But year by year more old men disappear
Soon no one will march there at all.
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Rolf-Dietmar Herzberg | rodi@ikp.uni-koeln.de
Institut fuer Kernphysik der | Tel ++221 / 470 3636
Universitaet zu Koeln | Fax ++221 / 470 5168
Zuelpicher Str. 77 |
W-5000 Koeln 41 |
Germany |
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