- Oh there once was a swagman camped in
the billabong,
- Under the shade of a Coolibah tree.
- And he sang as he looked at the old
billy boiling,
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
- Chorus:
- Who'll come a waltzin' Matilda my
darling,
- Who'll come a waltzin' Matilda with me?
- Waltzing Matilda and leading a water
bag,
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
-
- Down
came a jumbuck to drink at the waterhole
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with
glee.
And he said as he put him away in the
tuckerbag
"You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me"!
- Chorus:
- Who'll come a waltzin' Matilda my
darling,
- Who'll come a waltzin' Matilda with me?
- Waltzing Matilda and leading a water
bag,
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
Down
came the squatter a' riding his
thoroughbred.
Up came policemen, one, two, and three.
Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the
tuckerbag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
Chorus:
Who'll come a-waltzing
Matilda my darling
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda and leading a waterbag
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me
- But the swagman he up and he jumped in
the water-hole,
- Drowning himself by the coolibah tree.
- And his ghost may be heard as it sings
by the billabong,
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
- Chorus:
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda my
darling,
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
- Waltzing Matilda and leading a water
bag,
- Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
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- Billabong—a
bow-shaped lake formed in the channel of a dried up river
bed.
- Billy—a can for boiling water.
- Coolibah tree—a
kind of
eucalyptus
tree which grows near billabongs.
- Jumbuck—a
large, untamed wild sheep that might belong to a squatter.
Taking it might be stealing.
- Matilda—a romantic term for a swagman's bundle.
- Trooper—policemen.
- Squatter—In
the past, Australian farmers who raised livestock on land
they did not legally have a right to use. Some became
wealthy when the land they squatted on was ceded to them.
-
Swag—a bed roll, blanket, cloth, or bundle in
which a swagman carries
all his belongings strapped to his back.
- Swagman—a man who wanders through the country
looking for work carrying a swag on his back.
- Tucker—food.
- Tucker bag—a
bag for carrying food.
-
Waltzing Matilda—to waltz matilda is to look
for work with a swag on one's back.
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