[ Предположительная тональность: C ] C F C C/Am When I was a young man I carried my pack C G C And I lived the free life of a rover G/F C C/Am From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback C G C I waltzed my Mathilda all over G F C Then in nineteen-fifteen my country said "Son G F C It's time to stop rambling 'cos there's work to be done" F C C/Am So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me gun C G C And they sent me away to the war F C And the band played "Waltzing Mathilda" G As we sailed away from the quay F C F/Am/C And amidst all the tears flagwaving and cheers C G C We sailed off to Gallipoli How well I remember that terrible day How the blood stained the sand and the water And how nin that hell that we called Souvla Bay We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter Johnny Turk he was ready he primed himself well He chased us with bullets and he rained us with shell And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell Nearly blew us right back to Australia And the band played "Waltzing Mathilda" As we stopped to bury our slain We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs Then it started all over again Now those that were living well we tried to survive In a mad world of blood death and fire And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive While around me the corpses piled higher Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit And when I awoke in my hospital bed And saw what it had done Christ I wished I was dead Never knew there were worse things than dying For no more I'll go waltzing Mathilda To the green bushes so far and near Tor to hump tents and pegs a man needs two legs No more waltzing Mathilda 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 poor wounded heroes of Souvla And as our ship pulled into circular quay I looked at the place where my legs used to be And I thanked Christ there was no-one there waiting for me To grieve and to mourn and to pity And the band played "Waltzing Mathilda" As they wheeled us down the gangway But nobody cheered theyu just stood there and stared Then they turned all their faces away And now every April I sit on my porch And I watch the parade pass before me I see my old comrades how proudly they march Renewing old dreams of past glory And the old men march slowly all bent stiff and sore The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war And the young people as "What are they marching for ?" And I ask myself the same question And the band plays "Waltzing Mathilda" And the old men still answer the call But year after year their numbers get fewer Someday no-one will march there at all C F C Waltzing Mathilda Waltzing Mathilda C G Who'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me ? C G C F And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong G G C Who'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me ?