And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda chords
by Liam Clancy- And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda was written by folk singer - Eric Bogle in 1971.
- Eric Bogle: Scottish born singer/songwriter - the song was named one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time by APRA in May, 2001 as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations.
- Our featured artist is Liam Clancy with a cover of the song from the album - Favourites 1 & 2.
- Music: Key of A Major in 3/4 time at approx. 126 bpm (♩)
- Chords: A, Asus4, Asus2, D, Dsus2, E, Eadd9, F#m, F#m7
Chart Legend
Numbered Circles: Fingers used to play chords O: Optional Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open X: Don't play string B: Bass Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open X: Don't play string B: Bass Note
And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other keyA D A F#m Intro: 3/4 ‖ | | | ‖ A D A F#m 1. Now when I was a young man I car-ried me pack A E A Asus4 A And I lived the free life of the ro-ver | | A D A F#m From the Mur-ray's green ba-sin to the dus-ty out-back A E A Asus4 A I waltzed my Ma-til-da all | o-ver | | E D A Then in nine-teen fif-teen my coun-try said son E D A It's time to stop ramb-ling there's work to be done A D A F#m F#m7 F#m So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun | | A E A Asus4 A And they sent me a-way to the war | | A D A Asus4 A Chorus: And the band played Walt-zing Ma-til-da | | A D E Eadd9 E As the ship pulled a-way from the quay | | D E A D Dsus2 D And a-mid all the tears the flag-wav-ing and cheers | | A E A Asus4 A We sailed off for Gal-li-po-li | | A D A F#m 2. Well I re-mem-ber that ter-ri-ble day A E A Asus4 A How our blood stained the sand and the wa-ter | | A D A F#m And how in that hell that they called Su-vla Bay A E A Asus4 A We were butch-ered like lambs at the slaugh-ter | | E D A John-ny Turk he was rea-dy he'd primed him-self well E D A He rained us with bul-lets and he shower'd us with shell A D A F#m And in five min-utes flat we were all blown to | hell | 𝄎 | A E A Asus4 A Near-ly blew us back home to Aust-ra-lia | | A D A Asus4 A Chorus: And the band played Walt-zing Ma-til-da | | A D E Eadd9 E When we stopped to bu-ry our slain | | D E A D Dsus2 D We bur-ied ours and the Turks bur-ied theirs | | A E A Asus4 A Then it start-ed all o-ver a-gain | | A D A F#m 3. Those who were liv-ing just tried to sur-vive A E A Asus4 A In that mad world of blood death and fire | | A D A F#m And for ten wea-ry weeks I kept my-self a-live A E A Asus4 A Though a-round me the corp-ses piled high-er | | E D A Then a big Tur-kish shell knocked me arse o-ver head E D A And when I a-woke in me hos-pi-tal bed A D A F#m F#m7 F#m And saw what it had done then I wished I were dead | | A E A Asus4 A I ne-ve knew there were worse things than dy-in' | | A D A Asus4 A Chorus: For no more I'll go walt-zing Ma-til-da | | A D E Eadd9 E All a-round the green bush far and near | | D E A D Dsus2 D For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs | | A E A Asus4 | A Asus2 A No more Walt-zing Ma-til-da for me | | | 𝄎 | A D A F#m 4. They col-lec-ted the woun-ded the crip-pled the maimed A E A Asus4 A And they ship-ped us back home to Aus-tra-lia | | A D A F#m The arm-less the leg-less the blind the in-sane A E A Asus4 A Those proud wound-ed her-oes of Suv-la | | E D A And when the ship pulled in-to Cir-cu-lar Quay E D A I looked at the place where me legs used to be A D A F#m F#m7 F#m And thank Christ there was no-one there wait-ing for me | | A E A Asus4 A To grieve and to mourn and to pi-ty | | A D A Asus4 A Chorus: And the band played Walt-zing Ma-til-da | | A D E Eadd9 E As they car-ried us down the gang-way | | D E A D Dsus2 D But no-bo-dy cheered they just stood there and stared | | A E A Asus4 A Asus2 A Asus4 Then they turned all their fa-ces a-way | | | | A D A F#m 5. So now ev’-ry Ap-ril I sit on me porch A E A Asus4 A And I watch the pa-rade pass be-fore me | | A D A F#m And I see my old com-rades how proud-ly they march A E A Asus4 A Re-new-ing their dreams of past glo-ry | | E D A I see the old men all tired stiff and sore E D A The wea-ry old he-roes of a for-got-ten war A D A F#m F#m7 F#m And the young peo-ple ask what are they march-ing for | | A E A Asus4 A And I ask my-self the same quest-ion | | A D A Asus4 A Chorus: And the band plays Waltz-ing Ma-til-da | | A D E Eadd9 E And the old men still an-swer the call | | D E A D Dsus2 D But as year fol-lows year more old men dis-ap-pear | | A E A Asus4 A Some-day no one will march there at all... | | ... Time Signature change from 3/4 to 4/4 A D Outro: Waltz-ing Ma-til-da___ Waltz-ing Ma-til-da A D A E Who'll come a-walt-zing Ma-til-da with me A E F#m D And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the bil-la-bong A E A Who'll come a-waltz-ing Ma-til-da with me...
Notes:
- Level Of Ease: Easy
- Song Key: A major - 3 sharps (F#, C#, G#)
- 3/4 Time: This means 3 quarter-note beats per bar, therefore the count is | 1 2 3 |, or |1& 2& 3& | etc.
- Liam uses a a capo on the 2nd fret and plays in the key of G Major. He may have done this to avoid the F#m as a barre chord... when you are fingerpicking, it is always preferable to play open chords as they tend to sound a lot crisper and cleaner.
- For Capo users, Dadd9 or DaddE poses an interesting situation depending on how you play it. If you play the chord x00230 where the second finger exposes the open E (1st string), it is actually a Dsus2 chord as we are giving up the F# (first string) and replacing it with E, therefore the chord reads D - E - A (formula: 1 - 2 - 5 ) which is Dsus2.
If on the other hand we play it as x02232, we leave the D chord intact while adding E on the 4th string, 2nd fret - DaddE... both chords sound fine, so you can play either one.
The reason Eadd9 or EaddF# is not Esus2, is because we still retain the G# and simply add an F#. The formula for a major chord (1 - 3 - 5) is still intact with an added F#... E - G# - B - F#. - You don't have to play all the chord extensions such as Asus4, Dsus2, Eadd9 etc. They are there for color and interest. Liam plays the chords without extensions, while the other guitarist adds extensions and other welcome extras. I have tried to combine the two as simply as possible without causing too much confusion. Try some things for yourself... you may be pleasantly surprised.
Liam Clancy
Born: William Clancy on 2nd September 1935 in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Occupation: Singer - musician - actor
Died: 4th December 2009 (aged 74) in Cork, Ireland
Active Years: 1955 - 2009
Instruments: Vocals, guitar, concertina
Associations: The Clancy Brothers, Makem and Clancy
The Clancy Brothers recorded about 50 albums and sold millions of albums worldwide. They played to concerts in some of the world's best venues including, The Royal Albert Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Liam's active years spanned decades, from 1955 - 2009. He was the group’s most dominant singer and was generally regarded as the best Ballad singer ever. Liam was the lead vocalist in the band and also played guitar and concertina.
Songs by Liam Clancy on this site:- And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
- The Parting Glass
