[ar:The Pogues] [ti:The Band Played Waltzing Matilda] [00:00.00]The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - The Pogues [00:10.18]When I was a young man [00:13.40]I carried my pack [00:16.72]And I lived the free life of a rover [00:23.40]From the Murrays green [00:25.63]Basin to the dusty outback [00:30.79]I waltzed my Matilda all over [00:37.18]Then in nineteen fifteen [00:40.39]My country said Son [00:44.33]It's time to stop rambling [00:47.36]'Cause there's work to be done [00:50.78]So they gave me a tin hat [00:54.19]And they gave me a gun [00:57.75]They And sent me away to the war [01:04.58]And the band played Waltzing Matilda [01:11.62]As we sailed away from the quay [01:17.98]And amidst all the tears [01:21.44]And the shouts and the cheers [01:25.04]We sailed off to Gallipoli [01:31.74]How well I remember that terrible day [01:38.61]The the blood stained the sand [01:41.57]And the water [01:45.81]And how in that hell [01:48.56]That they called Suvla Bay [01:52.43]We were butchered like [01:53.83]Lambs at the slaughter [01:59.32]Johnny Turk he was ready [02:02.73]He primed himself well [02:06.40]He chased us with bullets [02:09.61]And he rained us with shells [02:13.16]And in five minutes flat [02:16.34]He'd blown us all to hell [02:19.94]Nearly blew us [02:21.58]Right back to Australia [02:26.96]But the band played Waltzing Matilda [02:34.04]As we stopped to bury our slain [02:40.76]And we buried ours [02:44.17]And the Turks buried theirs [02:47.60]Then we started all over again [02:54.45]Now those that were left [02:57.95]Well we tried to survive [03:01.55]In a mad world of blood [03:05.11]Death and fire [03:08.35]And for seven long weeks [03:12.05]I kept myself alive [03:15.43]While the corpses around [03:17.28]Me piled higher [03:22.27]Then a big Turkish shell [03:25.01]Knocked me arse over tit [03:29.36]And when I woke up [03:32.18]In my hospital bed [03:35.82]And saw what it had done [03:39.14]Christ I wished I was dead [03:42.94]Never knew there were worse [03:45.02]Things than dying [03:49.98]And no more I'll go waltzing Matilda [03:56.94]To the green bushes so far and near [04:03.70]For to hump tent and pegs [04:07.40]A man needs two legs [04:10.72]No more waltzing Matilda for me [04:50.05]So they collected the cripples [04:54.04]The wounded the maimed [04:57.20]And they shipped us [04:58.71]Back home to Australia [05:04.27]The legless the armless [05:07.60]The blind the insane [05:11.04]Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla [05:17.67]And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay [05:24.52]I looked at the place [05:27.33]Where me legs used to be [05:31.06]And thank Christ [05:32.71]There was nobody waiting for me [05:38.30]To grieve and to mourn and to pity [05:45.04]And the band played Waltzing Matilda [05:51.84]As they carried us down the gangway [05:58.80]But nobody cheered [06:02.20]They just stood and stared [06:05.82]Then turned all their faces away [06:12.76]And now every April I sit on my porch [06:19.47]And I watch the parade pass before me [06:26.50]And I see my old comrades [06:29.94]How proudly they march [06:33.13]Reliving their dreams of past glory [06:39.99]I see the old men all twisted and torn [06:47.10]The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war [06:53.68]And the young people ask me [06:56.91]What are they Marching for [07:00.80]And I ask myself the same question [07:07.38]And the band plays Waltzing Matilda [07:14.13]And the old men still answer to the call [07:21.01]But year after year [07:24.33]Their numbers get fewer [07:27.65]Some day no one will march there at all [07:35.12]Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda [07:41.88]Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me