Chords for Eric Bogle - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

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_ _ _ _ _ _ Now _ when I was a [F] young man, I [C] carried [Am] me pack, [C] And I lived the free [G] life of the rover.
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From the Murray's [F] green basin to [C] the dusty [Am] outback, [C] Well I waltzed my Matilda all over.
_ _ Then [G] in _ 1915 [F] my country said, [C] son, [G] It's time you stop rambling, [F] there's work to [C] be done.
So they gave me [F] a tin hat and [C] they gave me a [Am] gun, _ _ _ And [C] they marched [G] me away to [C] the war. _ _ _
And the band [F] played _ [C] Waltzing Matilda, _ _ As the ship pulled away from [G] the quay. _ _
[F] And amidst all the cheers, [C] the flag waving [Am] and tear, _ _ [C] We sailed [G] off for [C] Gallipoli. _ _ _ _
And how well I [F] remember [C] that terrible [Am] day, [G] How our blood stained the sand and [C] the water,
[G] _ _ [C] And of how in [F] that hell that [C] they called [Am] Suvla Bay, [G] We were butchered like lambs at [C] the slaughter.
_ _ [G] Johnny Turkey was whiten, he'd [F] primed [C] himself well, [G] He showered us with bliss [C] and he rained us with shell,
And in five [F] minutes flat [G] he'd blown us [Am] all to hell, _ [G] Nearly blew us right back [C] to Australia.
_ _ But the band [F] played Waltzing [C] Matilda, _ _ When we stopped to bury [G] our slain.
_ _ [F] We buried _ ours [C] and the Turks buried [Am] _ theirs, _ Then [C] we started [G] all over [C] _
again.
_ _ _ And those that [F] were left, well [C] we tried to [Am] survive, In [C] that mad world [G] of blood, death [C] and fire. _
_ And for ten weary [F] weeks I kept [C] _ [Am] myself alive, [C] Though around me [G] the corpses [C] piled higher. _
[G] Then a big turkey shell knocked [F] me arse [C] overhead, [G] And when I woke up in [F] me [C] hospital bed,
And saw what it [F] had done, [C] well I wished [Am] I was dead.
_ [G] Never knew there was worse [C] things than dying, _ _ _ For I'll go [F] no more Waltzing [C] Matilda. _ _
All around a green bush [G] far and free, _ _ _ [F] To hum tents and pegs [C] a man needs both [Am] legs,
_ _ [C] No more Waltzing [G] _
Matilda [C] for me. _ _ _ _
So they gathered the [F] crippled, the [C] wounded, [Am] the maimed, [G] And they shipped us back home [C] to Australia.
_ _ _ The legless, [F] the armless, [C] the blind, [Am] the insane, [G] Those proud wounded heroes [C] of Souvlac.
_ _ [G] And as our ship pulled [F] into circular [C] quay, [G] I looked up in the place where [F] me legs [C] used to be,
And thank Christ there [F] was nobody [C] waiting [Am] for me, _ [G] To grieve, to mourn [C] and to pity. _ _ _
But the band [F] played Waltzing [C]
Matilda, _ _ _ As they carried us down the [G] gangway. _ _ _
[F] But nobody _ cheered, [C] they just stood [Am] and stared, _ Then [G] they turned all their faces _ [C] away. _ _
_ And so now, [F] every April, [C] I sit on [Am] me porch, [G] And I watch the parade [C] pass before me.
_ And I see my [F] old [C] comrades, how proudly [Am] they march, [C] Reviving [G] old dreams of [C] past glory.
_ _ [G] And the old men march slowly, [F] all bones [C] stiff and sore, [G] They're tired old heroes from [F] a forgotten [C] war.
And the young people [F] ask, [C] what are they [Am] marching for?
And [G] I ask meself [C] the same question.
_ _ _ But the band [F] plays Waltzing [C] Matilda, _ _ _ And the old men still answer [G] the call.
_ _ [F] But as year follows year, [C] more old men [Am] disappear, _ _
_ _ [C] Someday no one [G] will march [C] there at all. _ _ _ _
_ _ Waltzing Matilda, _ _ [F]
Waltzing Matilda, _ [C] Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda [G] with me? _ _
[C] And their ghosts [F#] may be heard, as [C] they march [Am] by that [F] billabong.
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Who'll come a-Waltzing [G] _ Matilda [C]
with me? _ _ _ _ _ _
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