Waltzing Matilda

According to Charlie Pierce, this is the best anti-war song ever:



And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda - The Pogues

Now, when I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over.

Then in nineteen fifteen 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 sent me away to the war.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag-waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

Well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.

Johnny Turk he was ready, oh, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat we were all blown to hell
Nearly blew us back home to Australia.

And the band played waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again.


Those who were living just 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 awoke in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, then I wished I were dead
I never knew there were worse things than dying.

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

They collected the wounded, the crippled, 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 when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was no one there 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 there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

So now every April I sit on me porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glory

I see the old men, all tired, stiff, and sore
The weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "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 as year follows year more old men disappear
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?