Scotland's greatest living Australian. Or the other way around, depending on how you look at it.
Born in Peebles, Scotland, and emigrating to Australia in 1969, he currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia. Written in 1972, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda is perhaps his best-known song, being a haunting evocation of the ANZAC experience fighting in the Battle of Gallipoli. It has also been interpreted as a reaction to the Vietnam War.
Quatro anos de trabalho duro!Neste mês de maio fizemos quatro anos no ar. Continuamos trabalhando na divulgação deste maravilhoso instrumento, obrigado por participar da nossa história!
GCGEm When I was a young man I carried my pack GDG And I lived the free life of a rover GCGEm From the murrays green basin to the dusty outback GDG I waltzed my matilda all over DCG Then in nineteen fifteen my country said son DCG It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be Done GCGEm So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun GDG And they sent me away to the war
[Chorus] GCG And the band played Waltzing Matilda CDDsus4D As the ship pulled away from the quay CAmGEm And amidst all the tears and the flag-waving and cheers GDGGsus4G We sailed off to Gallipoli
GCGEm How well I remember that terrible day GDG When our blood stained the sand and the water GCGEm And how in that hell that they called suvla bay GDG We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter DCG Johnny Turk he was ready he primed himself well DCG He rained us with bullets he showered us with shells GCGEm And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell GDG Nearly blew us right back to Australia
[Chorus] GCG And the band played Waltzing Matilda CDDsus4D As we stopped to bury our slain CAmGEm we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs GDGGsus4G Then we started all over again
GCGEm Now those who were left well we tried to survive GDG In that mad world of blood death and fire GCGEm And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive GDG While the corpses around me piled higher DCG Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head DCG And when I woke up in my hospital bed GCGEm I saw what it had done Christ I wished I was dead GDG Never knew there were worse things than dying
[Chorus] GCG So I'll go no more waltzing Matilda CDDsus4D All around the green bush near and far CAmGEm For to hump tent and pegs a man needs two legs GDGGsus4G No more waltzing Matilda for me
GCGEm So they Gathered the wounded the crippled the maimed GDG And they shipped us back home to Australia GCGEm The legless the armless the blind and insane GDG Those proud wounded heroes of suvla DCG And when the ship pulled into circular quay DCG I looked at the place where me legs used to be GCGEm And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me GCG To grieve and to mourn and to pity
[Chorus] GCG And the band played Waltzing Matilda CDDsus4D As they carried us down the gangway CAmGEm But nobody cheered they just stood and stared GDGGsus4G And they turned all their faces away
GCGEm And now every April I sit on my porch GDG And I watch the parade pass before me GCGEm I see my old comrades how proudly they march GDG Reliving the or their dreams of past glory DCG The old men march slowly old bones stiff and sore DCG The tired old heroes of a forgotten war GCGEm And the young people ask what are they Marching for GDG And I ask myself the same question
[Chorus] GCG And the band plays Waltzing Matilda CDDsus4D And the old men still answer to the call CAmGEm But year after year more old men disappear GDGGsus4G Some day no one will march there at all
GC Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda GD Who'll go a-Waltzing Matilda with me GDEmC And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong CGD7G Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me Songwriters Eric Bogle