Chords for The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (Remastered)

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 1915 the [G] country said, son
[C] It's time to stop rambling, [Gm] there's work to be done
And they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the wall
And the [G] band played Walsy and Matilda
As our ship pulled away [F] from the quay
Amidst all the cheers, the flag [A] waving and tears
We sailed off to Gallipoli
_ [G] _ How well I [D] remember that terrible day
How 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 Turkey was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shell
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Walsy and Matilda
_ As we stopped [Gm] to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again
_ Now those [Abm] that were left, well, we tried [Am] to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for [N] ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher
_ Then a big Turkish shell knocked [G] me ass over head
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
I saw what it had done and I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dying _
For I'll go no more Walsy and Matilda _
All around the green bush far and near
That hump, tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more Walsy and Matilda for me
So they collected the cripples, the wounded and maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
_ The legless, the armless, the blind and insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
_ And as our ship pulled into circular quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to [Gm] be
And thank Christ there was [G] no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And [G] the band played Walsy and Matilda
_ As they [D] carried us down the gangway
But [Gm] nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then they turned all [N] their faces away
And _ now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my [G] old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing old dreams and past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent stiff and sore
The [D] tired old men from a forgotten war
And the young people [G] ask, what are they marching for?
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Walsy and Matilda
And the old men answer the call
But year by year the numbers get fewer
Someday no one will march there at all
_ Walsy and Matilda, _ Walsy and Matilda
_ Ooh, Walsy and [Gm] Matilda with me
[Am] And their ghosts [G] may be heard as they pass by the billabong
_ [Gm] Come Walsy [G] and Matilda _ [F] with me
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _