Luyện nghe bài hát AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA

"And The Played Waltzing Matilda"
- Eric

Now when I was a young man, I me pack, and I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country son, It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done.
So they gave me a tin hat, and gave me a gun, and they marched me away to the war.

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

But the played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain.
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all again.
And those that were left, well we tried to survive, in that mad world of blood, and fire
And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive, though around me the corpses piled
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me 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 things than dyin'.

For I'll go no waltzing Matilda, all around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man both legs-no more waltzing 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 proud heroes of Suvla
And as our pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
And thanked Christ there was waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.

But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us the gangway.
But nobody cheered, just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away
And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore. They're tired old heroes a forgotten war
And the young ask, what are they 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 will march at all.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, who'll come Matilda 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 remote of the Australian outback.
"Swag" - sleeping bag
"Billabong" - creek or estuary, generally with an outlet to the sea and containing more or less water.

Historical
The Gallipoli (April 25, 1915-January 8, 1916),
a major land and sea of World War I, in which
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) near
Istanbul. The purpose of the campaign, devised by
munitions David Lloyd George, first lord of the
admiralty Churchill, General Herbert H. Kitchener,
and Admiral H. Carden, was to open up a new
theater of war as an alternative to the in
France, to relieve Turkish pressure on Russian
in the Caucasus, and, by gaining control of
and the straits, to provide a direct link with
via the Black Sea. campaign is also significant
for Australians in that it marked the first time a
Australian military force was by Australian,
of English, officers.

What initially was to be exclusively a naval
failed in February 1915 when several and French
ships were by floating mines. A land invasion was
then decided on, but it was not begun until April.
An amphibious landing at that time was met with
by the Turks. Excessive caution and timorous
leadership by the commander, Sir Ian Hamilton,
in several lost initiatives. Little headway
was made beyond the several beachheads. In August,
after three of stalemate and stagnation on the
beaches, a new major was begun. Once again,
however, the caution and indifferent leadership
of the command offset the effect of heavy
reinforcements. The Turkish forces, on the hand, were
inspired by the leadership of Mustafa (Kemal Atatrk,
later president of Turkey) and the skill of their
commander, Liman von Sanders. After a few more months
of stalemate, Hamilton was by Sir Charles Monro,
who was sent to evaluate the situation. recommended
evacuation, and the allied 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
the Turks enough to facilitate the British seizure
of Palestine in 1917. The action also the Germans
from a plan they had in 1915 to begin offensive in France.