Waltzing Matilda

Lucia came into the bedroom early this morning, dragging the tray from her old high-chair. We had brought up the high-chair because of a recent visit from a baby (with the baby’s parents, of course) and hadn’t yet gotten around to bringing it back to the basement. I thought Lucia was trying to make an emphatic point that she was hungry, but no, she wanted us to sing “Waltzing Matilda” to her. I didn’t know many of the words, but I did have a copy of Rise Up Singing by my bed, so I looked up the words and sang it to her. I was groggy and hoarse, but Lucia was satisfied with my rendition. As she left the bedroom, still carrying the high-chair tray, it occurred to me that much of my life has a surreal quality about it that I just take for granted.

Anyway...

Here are the first verses of "Waltzing Matilda."

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"

"Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Along came a jumbuck to drink at the 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!"

"Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me!"


Back of the centennial coin commemorating the song.


I was going to look up all the words that are potentially unfamiliar to people outside of Australia (I'm one of them, as I thought the song was evocative of Edward Lear's poetry). However, Wikipedia has already done the job. Go ahead, follow the link. How can you go another day without satisfying your curiosity about billabongs and swagmen? You can hear a snippet of Dan Zanes' version here.



This is not Waltzing Matilda.