Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

WilliamPitt

(58,179 posts)
36. The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by the Pogues
Sun Aug 25, 2013, 07:49 PM
Aug 2013


When I was a young man I carried my 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 my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause 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 we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the 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, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
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
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke 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 near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, 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 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
Then turned all their faces away

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

And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from 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 answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
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 you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

I don't think we'e going, but a good excuse to post Sam Stone anyway BeyondGeography Aug 2013 #1
I hope you're right. I fear you're wrong. cali Aug 2013 #2
+1000 kentuck Aug 2013 #17
For mockery of jingoistic douchebags, go for America! Fuck Yeah! backscatter712 Aug 2013 #3
I can't stop laughing cali Aug 2013 #5
I used to hang out at this piano bar and I'd get them to play that every time. Initech Aug 2013 #73
"I Ain't Marching Anymore"- Phil Ochs enigmatic Aug 2013 #4
This is completely brilliant. limpyhobbler Aug 2013 #63
We had this great thread back in 2007 malaise Aug 2013 #6
"King Of The Hill"- Minutemen enigmatic Aug 2013 #7
oohh that was good limpyhobbler Aug 2013 #53
Ministry's good if you're into industrial metal backscatter712 Aug 2013 #8
chemical warfare: KittyWampus Aug 2013 #9
Suicide - Rocket U.S.A. BOG PERSON Aug 2013 #10
thanks. that's new to me. cali Aug 2013 #11
And of course, by the same guys, there's always "Frankie Teardrop": nomorenomore08 Aug 2013 #46
From WWI chieftain Aug 2013 #12
That was written by a guy I played a festival with in 1975 DFW Aug 2013 #58
I love Eric Bogle. chieftain Aug 2013 #75
Ineffective response, but it can warm the heart . . . Journeyman Aug 2013 #13
Green Day, American Idiot. PowerToThePeople Aug 2013 #14
done catnhatnh Aug 2013 #15
Here's an original song Zorra Aug 2013 #16
that's lovely, thank you. cali Aug 2013 #18
Thanks, glad you like it. Zorra Aug 2013 #29
"Wooden Ships" - Crosby, Stills & Nash lastlib Aug 2013 #19
"We Can't Make it Here" - James McMurtry IDemo Aug 2013 #20
Excellent choice! nt adirondacker Aug 2013 #60
Anything by Utah Phillips, and his collabs with Ani DiFranco HarveyDarkey Aug 2013 #21
Jackson Browne Lives In the Balance Ptah Aug 2013 #22
a couple more cali Aug 2013 #23
Traveling solider: easttexaslefty Aug 2013 #24
This is really good. limpyhobbler Aug 2013 #57
The Ballad of Penny Evans struggle4progress Aug 2013 #25
Devils and dust easttexaslefty Aug 2013 #26
Masters of War... PoliticAverse Aug 2013 #27
War. What is it good for? easttexaslefty Aug 2013 #28
Sting ~ This War Shankapotomus Aug 2013 #30
Neil young easttexaslefty Aug 2013 #31
Monster / Steppenwolf annabanana Aug 2013 #32
Every time I think of an anti-war song Curmudgeoness Aug 2013 #76
Universal Soldier ~ 1964 Zorra Aug 2013 #33
Against Me! From her lips to God's ears a la izquierda Aug 2013 #34
American Idiot alarimer Aug 2013 #35
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by the Pogues WilliamPitt Aug 2013 #36
The Call: "The Walls Came Down" VOX Aug 2013 #37
"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" pinboy3niner Aug 2013 #38
"The Cruel War" and "The Times They Are a Changing" gopiscrap Aug 2013 #39
Machine Gun - Hendrix (warning....graphic pictures of war in video) livetohike Aug 2013 #40
Blowing in the Wind by Peter, Paul and Mary... TeeYiYi Aug 2013 #41
Eve of Destruction pinboy3niner Aug 2013 #42
Marvin Gaye...What's Goin' On ? kelliekat44 Aug 2013 #43
Gun Shy by 10,000 Maniacs... TeeYiYi Aug 2013 #44
The band Op-Critical, it's all they do HarveyDarkey Aug 2013 #45
Cabaret Voltaire - "Sensoria" nomorenomore08 Aug 2013 #47
CCR PowerToThePeople Aug 2013 #48
Eddie Vetter's No More - the theme song for the movie Body of War, which is about kas125 Aug 2013 #49
perfect. limpyhobbler Aug 2013 #52
Thanks. I love it, too. What has been done to Tomas and so many other kids kas125 Aug 2013 #66
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Aug 2013 #50
Barlow says he wrote Throwing Stones after meeting Cheney and that it's about him. kas125 Aug 2013 #64
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Aug 2013 #65
I guess what they always said is true - kas125 Aug 2013 #67
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Aug 2013 #68
LOL, we had a lot of them. But to be serious for a second, do you realize just how lucky we are? kas125 Aug 2013 #69
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Aug 2013 #70
Some from The Clash MannyGoldstein Aug 2013 #51
More Anti-flag - 911 For Peace limpyhobbler Aug 2013 #54
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down-Joan Baez Manifestor_of_Light Aug 2013 #55
"Search and Destroy" Iggy and the Stooges,"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg"RAMONES, "Dead Heroes".Red Rockers Tikki Aug 2013 #56
When Johnny Comes Rolling Home Again (Iraq, Iraq) by The Freedom Toast DFW Aug 2013 #59
War Pigs covered by Cake... adirondacker Aug 2013 #61
Several by Phil Ochs, of course: Ken Burch Aug 2013 #62
Thumbs up! Heidi Aug 2013 #72
A few: Heidi Aug 2013 #71
System Of A Down Initech Aug 2013 #74
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker "WAR" notadmblnd Aug 2013 #77
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda zipplewrath Aug 2013 #78
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Could we get a thread goi...»Reply #36