Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Waltzing Matilda

I actually never realized this song was a classic Australian folk song, but it is in fact the countries unofficial national anthem. People are unsure of the origins of the song and there are many variations of it, but one thing I found out is its not actually about a woman. Ask any five people who wrote the song, and you will get answers like these: ‘It’s a German folk song’, ‘Banjo Paterson wrote it’, ‘It’s an old English song with new words’, ‘No-one wrote it, it’s an Australian folksong’, or ‘A woman in Queensland wrote it’. Each of these answers holds an element of truth. I believed it to be written by Banjo Paterson in 1895, while staying in Northern Queensland. I think of Banjo like the Australian Woody Guthrie wandering around like a hobo writing songs. This song is huge here though. They sing it sometimes at the opening of a Footy game, but I have yet heard it played at a pub, but I can’t wait for the sing along.

This is a bad video, a terrible one in fact, but I liked this version of the song the best from the ones to pick from.

alt : http://www.youtube.com/v/INdjRCNcZj0&rel=1

Lyrics:

Under the shade of a Coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boil,
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 watched and waited till his billy boil
You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that 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 the squatter mounted on his thorough-bred
Down came the troopers One Two Three
Whose 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
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker-bag
You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman sprang in to 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.

Posted by Nickolas in 22:20:50
Comments

Leave a Reply