[Verse 1]
When I was a young man I carried a pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green banks
To the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915, the country said: "Son
There's no time for rovin', there's work to be done..."
And they gave me a tin hat
And gave me a gun
And sent me away to the war

[Chorus 1]
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As our ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers
Flags waving and tears
We sailed off for Gallipoli

[Verse 2]
How well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stainеd the sand and the water
And how, in that Hеll
That they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered, like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell
And in ten minutes flat
He'd blown us to Hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia

[Chorus]
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury the slain
We buried ours, and
The Turks buried theirs
And we started all over again