And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda ? Eric Bogle
Ok Bogle fans, here?s my interpretation for the guitar, sorry banjo dudes!!

Before we begin I will tell you the little riff that Eric plays at the end of the 1st line in each chorus, which does add to the greatness of the sound of the song.

Riff marked by star (*) at each chorus:

After the C and F chords, strum the 2nd C, but using the pinkie to tap the third fret,
B string (D for the purists!!), makes it easier to play: -

   (2nd)C
e ---------------------------0----------------------------------
B -----1-----------3---------------1------------0------1-----
G ----------------------------------------2--------------------
D -----2-------------------------------------------------------
A -----3-------------------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------



Intro C G C C x 2 (Check Song for timing)
1.
   C           F          C          Am
 When I was a young man I carried me pack
       C               G           C   F C
 and I lived the free life on the rover.
 		       F            C      Am
 From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
   	C          G          C   F C
 Well I waltzed my Matilda all over.
 	G                     F            C
 Then in nineteen fifteen my country said "son",
 	G                       	  F            G
 Its time you stopped ramblin? there's work to be done!
 	 C        F                 C         Am
 So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
 	    C       G            C  F C
 And they marched me away to the war.


 Chorus
  	 C          F           C*
 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
 C	            F             G
 As the ship pulled away from the quay,
          F                       C          	   Am
  and amidst all the cheers, the flag waving and tears,
    C              G      C  F C
 We sailed off for Gallipoli


 2.
 How well I remember that terrible day
 How our blood stained the sand and the water
 And how in that hell they called Suvla Bay
 We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
 Johhny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well
 He showered us with bullets, and rained us with shell,
 And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us to hell
 Nearly blew us right back to Australia

 And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda*
 As we stopped to bury the slain
 We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs,
 Then we started all over again

3.
And those that were left, well we 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 woke up in me hospital bed,
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead,
Never knew there were worse things than dying.

For I'll go no more Waltzing Matilda,*
All around the green bush far and free.
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs.
No more Waltzing Matilda for me.


4.
 So they gathered the crippled, the wounded and maimed
 And they shipped us back home to Australia
 The armless the legless, the blind and insane,
 Those Proud wounded heroes of Suvla
 And when our ship pulled in to Circular Quay,
 I looked at the place where my legs used to be,
 And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me -
 To grieve, 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 -
 And they turned all their faces away.

5.
 And so now every April I sit on my porch,
 And I watch the parade pass before me,
 And I see my old comrades how proudly they march,
 Reviving old dreams and past glories,
 But the old men march slowly all bones stiff and sore,
 Tired old hero?s from a forgotten war,
 And the young people ask what are they marching for,
 And I ask myself the same question.

 But the band plays Waltzing Matilda*
 And the old men still answer the call,
 But as year followed year more old men disappear
 Some day no one will march there at all.



C                 	F
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
C              F       C            G
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
            C            F              C	       Am
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billa-bong,
C             	F           G 	 C
Who'll come a-waltzing ma-tilda with me?



Any comments or corrections or whatever, email me at steveocann@hotmail.com

Steve Cann ? The Scouse007