WCGreen
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Mon Mar-10-08 02:21 AM
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Every time I hear The Band Played Waltzing Matilda... |
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Edited on Mon Mar-10-08 02:26 AM by WCGreen
It makes me tear up and I get shivers all over...
I wonder if they will one time in the far off future they will play Proud to be An America by hoary old Lee Greenwood...
Or will they play Courtesy of the Red White and Blue by the Okie from Hell, Tobi Kieth...
Sadly, when the soldiers finally come home from the Iraq and Afgan Wars, they will get no parades...
Here are the lyrics to The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
When I was a young man I carried my pack And I lived the free life of a rover From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback I waltzed my Matilda all over Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun And they sent me away to the war And the band played Waltzing Matilda As we sailed away from the quay And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers We sailed off to Gallipoli
How well I remember that terrible day <When> the 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 Turk he was ready, he primed himself well He <showered> us with bullets, he rained us with shells And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell Nearly blew us right back to Australia But the band played Waltzing Matilda As we stopped to bury our slain And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs Then <it> started all over again
Now those <who were living did their best to survive> In <that> mad world of blood, death and fire And for <seven long> weeks I kept myself alive <While the corpses around me piled higher> Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit And when I woke up in my hospital bed And saw what it had done, <Christ> I wished I was dead Never knew there were worse things than dying <And> no more I'll go waltzing Matilda <To> the green <bushes so> far and near For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs No more waltzing 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 be And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me To grieve and 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
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 Reliving <the or their> dreams of past glory <I see the old men, all twisted and torn> The forgotten heroes <of> a forgotten war And the young people ask <me>, "What are they marching for?" And I ask myself the same question And the band plays Waltzing Matilda And the old men <still> answer to the call But year after year their numbers get fewer Some day no one will march there at all
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda Who'll <go> a-waltzing Matilda with me?
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Heidi
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Mon Mar-10-08 02:51 AM
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1. It reminds me of former Dem presidential candidate, senator and Medal of Honor recipient |
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Bob Kerrey, sang "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" to his supporters at the end of his Presidential campaign in 1992.
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CTyankee
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Mon Mar-10-08 09:18 AM
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2. It reminds me of that old movie "On the Beach" with Ava Gardner |
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and Fred Astaire, a profoundly depressing film about the last survivors of a nuclear war living in Australia, with the radioactive fallout coming their way soon...
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raccoon
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Mon Mar-10-08 10:05 AM
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3. Ct yankee beat me to it! nt |
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Edited on Mon Mar-10-08 10:05 AM by raccoon
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HERVEPA
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Mon Mar-10-08 10:28 AM
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4. As an FYI, written by Eric Bogle in 1972 (Scotsman turned Australian) |
CaliforniaPeggy
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Mon Mar-10-08 11:26 AM
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5. You know, I've never read all the lyrics before... |
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I had no idea this song was so terribly sad...
I'd only heard the chorus:
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda Who'll <go> a-waltzing Matilda with me? So I sang as I sat, and waited while my billy boiled... Who'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me?
:cry:
Thank you, Chris...
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WCGreen
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Mon Mar-10-08 02:16 PM
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6. It's a song about a band playing Waltzing Matilda... |
TZ
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Mon Mar-10-08 02:30 PM
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7. Have you ever seen the movie "Gallipoli" ? |
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Now thats an excellent movie that will tear your heart out of your chest. Might have that jerk Mel Gibson in it, but its a great sad movie....
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DU
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Thu Apr 25th 2024, 03:26 PM
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