Waltzing Matilda

Song: Banjo Paterson.

Perhaps Australia’s most well-known folk song, this is also a classic song of social protest in which a poor swagman is hounded to his death for a little poaching.

The swagman is an itinerant worker who carries his few belongings in his tucker bag and swag (a kind of bedroll). Fondly nicknamed “Matilda,” the swag swings as he walks, in a waltzing motion. A billabong is a waterhole, billy is the can in which water is boiled for tea, and a jumbuck is a young sheep or ram. The other creatures, the squatter and the troopers, are the landowner and the mounted police.

The song “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” is a protest song.

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of the Kulibar tree,
And he sang as he watched and
He waited ’till his billy boiled:
“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
He waited ’till his billy boiled:
“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 stowed that
Jumbuck in his tucker bag:
“You’ll come-a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.”

Chorus

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three.
“Where’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve
Got in your tucker bag?
You’ll come-a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.”

Chorus

Up jumped the swagman, sprang into the billabong,
“You’ll never catch me alive,” said he.
And his ghost can be heard
As you pass by that billabong:
“You’ll come-a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.”

Chorus