Waltzing Matilda gets World Cup go-ahead

Australian fans are delighted after the International Rugby Board gave the go-ahead for "Waltzing Matilda" to be sung before Wallabies' matches at the World Cup.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard led a chorus of dismay after the IRB ruled last month that only a country's national anthem could be sung before Cup games.

But after considering a request from the Australian Rugby Union, IRB directors meeting on Friday decided to let Matilda rip at the tournament in Australia starting on October 10.

"(We) recognise the importance and significance of Waltzing Matilda to the Australian nation," the IRB said.

"(We) are pleased to confirm that it may be both formally played and sung at any nominated time before the teams take the field."

After players were on the pitch, it added, only national anthems would be permitted.

The IRB makes exceptions for long-established and culturally significant performances such as the All Black's "haka" which, it points out, is performed solely by the players themselves.

A singalong to the much-loved Waltzing Matilda -- written in the late 19th century and featuring "a jolly swagman camped by a billabong" -- has become a tradition at Australian rugby tests.

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
How 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 chased 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
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses 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, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush 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, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my 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
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men 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 come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Waltzing Matilda was written by Australia's most famous poet Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson in 1895. He heard a tune played by Miss Christina MacPherson of Dagworth Station. He added the words of Waltzing Matilda to the music. The song was later performed in public and is famous throughout the world, It is also known as Australia's second national anthem.

The first version of Waltzing Matilda below is most familiar in Australia.

The Jolly Swagman

Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong
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 sat and waited by the billabong
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came a jumbuck to drink beside the billabong
Up jumped the swagman and seized him with glee
And he sang as he tucked jumbuck in his tuckerbag
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 sat and waited by the billabong
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came the stockman, riding on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three.
"Where's the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?
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 sat and waited by the billabong
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman and plunged into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive," cried he
And his ghost may be heard as you ride beside the billabong,
You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Second Version of Waltzing Matilda

Once a jolly swagman camped by a Billabong
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Down come a jumbuck to drink at the water hole
Up jumped a swagman and grabbed him in glee
And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker bag
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me'".

Up rode the Squatter a riding his thoroughbred
Up rode the Trooper - one, two, three
"Where's that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me".

But the swagman he up and jumped in the water hole
Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree,
And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong,
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Explanation of Australian Slang As Used in the Song

* Billabong: A waterhole.

* Billy: A can or small kettle used to boil water for tea.

* Coolabah tree: A type of native tree in Australia

* Jumbuck: A sheep. There are 20 times as many sheep as there are people in Australia.

* Matilda: Although there are several schools of thought, Matilda as originally used means is of Teutonic origins and means Mighty Battle Maiden, referring to the women in camps during the Thirty Year Wars in Europe. Later this more commonly referred to the great army coats or blankets that soldiers rolled into a swag and tossed over their shoulders while marching.

* Squatter: At one time, squatters claimed (seized) land for themselves in addition to land that they had been granted. Eventually through the continuous occupation of the land, their claims were legitimised in the eyes of the law.

* Swagman: Someone who lives on the open road. A hobo. The term came from the canvas bag that they would carry their bedroll and/or belongings in.

* Trooper: In Australia's early days, there was no police force. The colony was protected by and policed by soldiers and even when a police force was eventually formed, they were still referred to as 'troopers'.

* Tucker bag: A knapsack or bag for storing food in the bush.

Courtesy of The Australian Nuclear Veterans Association

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