Looking For A Song, Waltzing Matilda

[cori]

My friend told me about this song and wrote down the lyrics. It is a beautiful song about the young boys of Ireland who went to war, but I cannot find the music. Can anyone help me?

Thanks

Leslie

[Ceciliastar1]

That's interesting I wonder who told you that. The original version of the song is actually one of the national anthems of Australia. Here read this:

Waltzing Matilda is, briefly, a song about a tramp who camps by a creek and steals a sheep. Three policemen arrive; rather than submit to capture, the tramp commits suicide by drowning himself in the creek.
It's not exactly in the same league as " The Star-Spangled Banner " or " La Marseillaise", but it's the song that Australians get teary-eyed over when they hear it played a long way from home. The official anthem, by the way, is " Advance Australia Fair"; on Royal occasions in Australia, " God Save our Queen " is played.

Why do Australians find Waltzing Matilda so unutterably poignant? I'm not sure, but I think the answer lies deep in the Australian psyche. Waltzing Matilda is very much a nationalist song.

The tramp steals a sheep; he then chooses to die at his own hand for this trifling crime - as though the sheep's life were more valuable than his own. Remember that Australia was colonised by convicts sentenced to "transportation" from England, often for trivial property offences; Australians are still suspicious of authority, and cynical about the pomposity and hypocrisy of the judicial and police systems.

Here are the original lyrics:

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong:
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker-bag,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

Up rode a squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred;
Down came the troopers, one, two, three:
"Who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
Who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong;
"You'll never catch me alive!" said he;
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"


Here's a website where you can hear a MIDI version of the song:
http://www.hamilton.net.au/matilda.html

I hope that it gives you some ideas. Of course it could not be the same song that I am thinking of and am used to.

[Avonlea22]

Is this the song you are talking about?

Band Played Waltzing Matilda (the) (6:23)
Author:Eric Bogle
Copyright:Larrikin Music, Ltd. /Island Music/B.M.I.

When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover.
From the Murry's green basin to the dusty outback,
Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915 my country said, "Son,
It's time you stop rambling, there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And midst all the cheers, flag waving and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli


It?s well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well.
He rained us with bullets, and showered us with shell,
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us back home to Australia.
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
As we stopped to bury our slain,
and we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
Then we started all over again.


those who were livinge just tried to survive
In that 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 head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, sure I wished I was dead.
I 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 hunt and to pace, a man needs both legs,
No more waltzing Matilda for me.


They collected the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they sent us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.
But the Band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.


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
Reliving their dreams and past glory,
I see the old men all tired, stiff and sore
Those forgotten heroes 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 year after year, the numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all.



Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda.
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts can be heard as they march by the billibong
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?

Here is the link where I found it, and where you can listen to a clip of it.

[dfilpus]

Both "Waltzing Matilda" and "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" are Australian, not Irish. The latter appears to be what you are referencing.

The battle of Gallipoli was a bloody mess on the shores of Turkey. Australian and New Zealand troops were entrenched on the coast and repeatedly charged against machine gun nests at the top of the bluffs. This was the first battle that showed the futility of the bayonet charge against machine guns. Unfortunately, it was not the last.

A decent, though historically inaccurate movie, Gallipoli, was made in 1981 and starred Mel Gibson.

[Avonlea22]

One of the versions is here on CelticRadio. HERE is a link to the album info. I wasn't really paying attention to the lyrics when it was playing.

[The_Spanish_Rover]

It's quite hard for me to know which one is the songs you're looking for without the lyric :-(. Waltzing Matilda is Australian for sure, and tough it's a bit nacionalist, if you take a listen to the version of "The Irish Rovers" (My favourite one!!) you'll have to reckon it's a great childish song :-).

[cori]

Thanks for your help guys. It was the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. I thought it was Irish, but I guess it musn't be. The lyrics you wrote, Avonlea, are the ones I remember. Thanks for the song info.