Luyện nghe bài hát AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA

"And The Band Waltzing Matilda"
- Eric

Now when I was a young man, I carried me pack, and I lived the free life of a
the Murray'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 rambling, there's work to be done.
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, and they me away to the war.

And the band played Matilda, as the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears, we off for Gallipoli
And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well. He shower'd us with bullets,
And he rained us shell. And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell
blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain.
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, we started all over again.
And those that were left, well we to survive, in that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive, though me the corpses piled higher
a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head, and when I woke up in my hospital bed,
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead. Never knew there was worse than dyin'.

For I'll go no more Matilda, all around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs-no more Matilda for me.
So they the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
And thanked Christ was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.

But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as carried us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they all their faces away
And so now April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly march, reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore. They're tired old from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, what are marching for? And I ask myself the same question.

But the plays Waltzing Matilda, and the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear. Someday no one march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, who'll come a-waltzing with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billabong, who'll a-waltzing Matilda with me?

"Matilda" - the backpack and associated gear used by livestock drovers and
in areas of the Australian outback.
"Swag" - sleeping bag
"Billabong" - creek or estuary, generally with an to the sea and containing more or less brackish water.

Historical
The Gallipoli Campaign (April 25, 8, 1916),
a major land and sea operation of World War I, in
British, French, Australian, and New forces
unsuccessfully attempted an of Turkey.
The action was to the Dardanelles Strait
and the tip of the Gallipoli (Gelibolu) Peninsula
Istanbul. The purpose of the campaign, by British
munitions minister Lloyd George, first lord of the
admiralty Winston Churchill, General H. Kitchener,
and Admiral Sackville H. Carden, was to up a new
theater of war as an alternative to the in
France, to relieve Turkish on Russian forces
in the Caucasus, and, by control of Istanbul
and the straits, to provide a link with Russia
via the Black Sea. This campaign is significant
for Australians in that it marked the time a major
military force was commanded by Australian,
of English, officers.

What initially was to be a naval operation
failed in February 1915 when several British and
ships were damaged by floating mines. A invasion was
then decided on, but it was not begun late April.
An landing at that time was met with heavy
resistance by the Turks. Excessive and timorous
leadership by the commander, Sir Ian Hamilton,
in several lost initiatives. Little headway
was made beyond the beachheads. In early August,
three months of stalemate and stagnation on the
beaches, a new offensive was begun. Once again,
however, the excessive and indifferent leadership
of the command offset the effect of heavy
reinforcements. The forces, on the other hand, were
inspired by the leadership of Kemal (Kemal Atatrk,
later president of Turkey) and the skill of German
commander, Otto Liman von Sanders. After a few more
of stalemate, was replaced by Sir Charles Monro,
who was to evaluate the situation. Monro recommended
evacuation, and the forces were withdrawn in December
and January. British casualties 205,000 out of 410,000;
the sustained a rate of 47,000 out of 79,000; Turkish,
250,000 to 300,000 out of 500,000. The fiasco
the reputations of Churchill, Hamilton, and Kitchener.
Despite its overall failure, however, the campaign
weakened the enough to facilitate the British seizure
of Palestine in 1917. The action also the Germans
a plan they had in 1915 to begin another offensive in France.