Waltzing Matilda is usually sung in informal settings, but it was played with a 90 piece orchestra and the 100 voice Melbourne Chorale at the 2005 Classical Spectacular
'"Waltzing Matilda"' is
Australia's most widely known
folk song, and one that has been popularly suggested as a potential
national anthem.
The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker making a crude cup of tea at a bush camp and stealing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small lake and goes on to haunt the site.
The lyrics were written in
1895 by the poet and nationalist
Banjo Paterson, but it was first published as sheet music in
1903. Extensive folklore surrounds the song and the process of its creation, to the extent that the song has its own museum, the
Waltzing Matilda Centre in
Winton, Queensland.
Official status
There have been persistent calls for the establishment of "Waltzing Matilda" as the national anthem instead of the current national anthem, "
Advance Australia Fair". The song is recognisable and easily sung, but its lyrics, narrating the story of a
swagman, the Australian equivalent of a
vagabond, render it unlikely to ever gain acceptance in official circles. Many Australians, however, continue to regard it with great affection. Some have suggested using the same tune, but with different lyrics, but supporters argue the lyrics contribute substantially to the song's character.
The song enjoyed a brief period of official recognition as the Australian
national song (coexisting with "
Advance Australia Fair" as the National Anthem). It was used at the
Montreal Olympic Games in 1976, and, as a response to the New Zealand
All Blacks haka, it has gained popularity as a sporting anthem for the
Australia national rugby union team. It is also performed, along with "Advance Australia Fair", at the annual
AFL Grand Final. As of 2007 it has no official status as a national song of Australia, but it continues to be used unofficially (and sometimes in error) in many contexts.
It is used as the quick march of the
1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. It is the official march of the
U.S. 1st Marine Division, commemorating the time the unit spent in Australia during the
Second World War.
It is also partly used in the British Royal Tank Regiments quick march of "My Boy Willie", because early British Tanks were called "Matilda's".
Popularity
Reasons for the strong empathy Australians feel for this song include its appeal to a rural ideal,
its featuring of an underdog or
anti-hero, its allusions to Australia's origins as a British
penal colony, and its status as unofficial. The song also has links to a historic
shearers' strike which was crucial to the labour movement in Australia, and uses of many obsolete words and phrases that give native
Australian English speakers an insider's knowledge about the song's meaning.
Lyrics
(Note that there are no "official" lyrics to Waltzing Matilda, and slight variations can be found in different sources).
[1] [2]
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?"
Down came a jumbuck to drink from 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
"You'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".
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".
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Up jumped the swagman, leapt into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive," said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Plot and Details
The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker making a crude cup of
tea at a bush camp and stealing a
sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small lake and goes on to haunt the site. The lyrics contain many distinctively Australian words, some now rarely used in
Australian English outside this song. These include:
; swagman : a man who travelled the country looking for work. The swagman's "
swag" was a bed roll that bundled his belongings.
; waltzing : derived from the German term '', which means to travel while working as a
craftsman and learn new techniques from other masters before returning home after three years and one day, a custom which is still in use today among carpenters.
; Matilda : a romantic term for a swagman's bundle. See below, "Waltzing Matilda."
; Waltzing Matilda : from the above terms, "to waltz Matilda" is to travel with a swag, that is, with all one's belongings on one's back wrapped in a blanket or cloth. The exact origins of the term "Matilda" are disputed; one fanciful derivation states that when swagmen met each other at their gatherings, there were rarely women to dance with. Nonetheless, they enjoyed a dance, and so they danced with their swags, which was given a woman's name. However, this appears to be influenced by the word "waltz", hence the introduction of dancing. It seems more likely that, as a swagman's only companion, the swag came to be personified as a woman.
:Another explanation is that the term also derives from German immigrants. German soldiers commonly referred to their
greatcoats as "Matilda," supposedly because the coat kept them as warm as a woman would. Early German immigrants who "went on the waltz" would wrap their belongings in their coat, and took to calling it by the same name their soldiers had used.
;
billabong : an
oxbow lake (a cut-off river bend) found alongside an undulating river.
;
coolibah tree : a kind of
eucalyptus tree which grows near billabongs.
;
jumbuck : a sheep.
;
billy : a can for boiling water in, usually 2-3
pints.
; tucker bag : a bag for carrying food ("tucker").
; troopers :
policemen.
;
squatter : Australian squatters started as early farmers who raised livestock on land which they did not legally have the right to use; in many cases they later gained legal use of the land even though they did not have full possession, and became wealthy thanks to these large land holdings.
Variations
The lyrics of ''Waltzing Matilda'' have changed significantly since it was written.
A facsimile of the original manuscript, included in "Singer of the bush", a collection of Paterson's works published by Lansdowne Press in 1983, shows the first two verses below. The punctuation is as shown in that manuscript.
: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 water hole,
:Up jumped the swagman + grabbed him in glee,
:And he sang as he put him away in the tucker bag,
:You'll come a waltzin' Matilda with me."
:''Chorus'':
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda my darling,
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
:Waltzing Matilda and leading a water bag,
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.
This facsimile only shows the first two verses, but includes some corrections: it originally read (differences in italics):
: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 ''roving Australia'' with me?
:''Chorus:''
:Who'll come a ''rovin'' (rest missing)
:Who'll come a waltzin' Matilda with me?
:Waltzing Matilda and leading a ''tucker'' bag.
:Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
It has been suggested that these changes were from an even earlier version, and that Paterson was talked out of using this text, but the manuscript does not bear this out. In particular, the first line of the chorus was corrected before it had been finished, so the original version is incomplete.
The first published version, in 1903, differs slightly from this text:
:Oh there once was a swagman camped in the billabongs,
: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 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?
:Down came a jumbuck to drink at the waterhole,
:Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee,
:And he sang as he put him away in the tucker-bag,
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me."
:(''Chorus'')
:Up came the squatter a-riding his thoroughbred,
:Up came policemen—one, two, a and three.
:"Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag?
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda with we."
:(''Chorus'')
:Up sprang the swagman and jumped in the waterhole,
:Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree.
:And his voice can be heard as it sings in the billabongs,
:Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me."
:(''Chorus:'')
By contrast with the original, and also with subsequent versions, the chorus of all the verses was the same in this version. This is also apparently the only version that writes "billabongs" instead of "billabong".
Current variations include the third line of the verse saying "And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong" or "And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled"; and the third line of the chorus remaining unchanged from the first verse, instead of changing to the third line of each preceding verse.
There is also the very popular
John Williamson version that has a changed chorus and the new chorus is very similar to that used by
Patterson and continues as follows:
:Oh there once was a swagman camped in a billabong
:Under the shade of a coolibah tree
:And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling
: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
:Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water hole
:Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
:And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker bag
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
:Down came the squatter a riding on his thoroughbred
:Down came the troopers one two three
:Whose is that jumbuck you've got in the tucker bag
:You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
:But the swagman he up and he jumped into the water hole
:Drowning himself by the coolibah tree
:And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the billabong
:Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
There is also a version released by the American singing group
The New Christy Minstrels wich offered yet another last verse:
:I'm just a simple swagman who'd be obliged to fare thee well
:I'm just a journeying down to the sea
:For it's God bless the Queen who gave to you this billabong
:And it was God who gave that jumbuck to me
History
Writing of the song
The words to the song were written in 1895 by
Banjo Paterson, a famous Australian poet, and the music was written (based on a folk tune) by
Christina Macpherson, who wrote herself that she "was no musician, but she would do her best." Paterson wrote the piece while staying at the Dagworth Homestead, a bush station in
Queensland. While he was there his hosts played him a traditional
Celtic folk tune called "The Craigeelee," and Paterson decided that it would be a good piece to set lyrics to, producing them during the rest of his stay.
The tune is most probably based on the Scottish song "Thou Bonnie Wood Of Craigielea," which Macpherson heard played by a band at the
Warrnambool steeplechase.
Robert Tannahill wrote the words in 1805 and
James Barr composed the music in 1818. In 1893 it was arranged for
brass band by
Thomas Bulch. The tune again was possibly based on the old melody of "Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself," composed by
John Field (1782-1837) sometime before 1812. It is sometimes also called: "When Sick Is It Tea You Want?" (London 1798) or "The Penniless Traveller" (O'Neill's 1850 collection).
There is also speculation about the relationship it bears to "The Bold Fusilier", a song dated by some back to the eighteenth century.
"Waltzing Matilda" is probably based on the following story:
:In
Queensland in 1891 the Great
Shearers' Strike brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the
Premier Samuel Griffith called in the military.
:In September 1894, on a station called Dagworth (north of Winton), some shearers were again on
strike. It turned violent with the strikers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at the Dagworth Homestead, killing dozens of sheep.
:The owner of Dagworth Homestead and three policemen gave chase to a man named
Samuel Hoffmeister - also called Samuel "French(y)" Hoffmeister. Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the
Combo Waterhole.
Bob Macpherson (the brother of Christina) and Paterson are said to have taken rides together at Dagworth. Here they may have passed the
Combo Waterhole, where Bob may have told this story to Paterson.
The song itself was first performed on
6 April 1895 at the North Gregory Hotel in
Winton, Queensland. The occasion was a banquet for the
Premier of Queensland. It became an instant success.
Ownership
In 1903 it was picked up by the Billy Tea company for use as an advertising
jingle, making it nationally famous. A third variation on the song, with a slightly different chorus, was published in 1907. Paterson sold the rights to "Waltzing Matilda" and "some other pieces" to
Angus and Robertson Publishers for five pounds (the then-currency).
The song was falsely
copyrighted by an American publisher in 1941 as an original composition. However, no copyright applies in Australia.
Covers and derivative works
The song is a fixture at many Australian sporting events. It was performed at the
Closing Ceremony of the
2000 Olympic Games in
Sydney by singer
Slim Dusty, as well as at the Opening Ceremony of the subsequent
Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games by Australian pop star
Kylie Minogue. It was previously sung at the Opening Ceremony of the
1982 Commonwealth Games in
Brisbane by
Rolf Harris. It is sung during the pre-game entertainment of the
Australian Football League Grand Final each year.
The song has been recorded by many Australian musicians and singers, including
Peter Dawson,
The Seekers,
Tenor Australis,
Thomas Edmonds,
Rolf Harris and
Lazy Harry. Bands from other nations, including
The Irish Rovers and the
Red Army Choir, have also recorded the song.
Bert Lloyd recorded the 1903 version of the song on 'The Great Australian Legend',
Topic Records, LP 12T 203, 1971.
The score of the 1959 film ''
On the Beach'', written by
Ernest Gold, is based heavily on motifs from "Waltzing Matilda." The film, about the end of the world via a
nuclear holocaust, is set in Australia, and director
Stanley Kramer was insistent on the "Waltzing Matilda" motif. The song itself is heard in the last minutes of the movie.
Derivative musical works
In 1958,
Bill Haley and His Comets recorded a version with new lyrics entitled "Rockin' Matilda", about a beautiful Australian girl named Matilda.
"
And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", was created by
Eric Bogle in 1972, and performed most popularly by
The Pogues on their album ''
Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash''. The song graphically documents the Australian experience at the
Battle of Gallipoli and
ANZAC Day. It incorporates the melody and a few lines of "Waltzing Matilda" 's lyrics at its conclusion.
American singer
Tom Waits combined "Waltzing Matilda" with some of his own material in
"Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind In Copenhagen)" on his 1976 album ''
Small Change''.
In 2003, the
Scared Weird Little Guys released "''Cleanin' Out My Tuckerbag''", a comedic
spoof of the song, done in the style of
Eminem's songs "
Cleanin' Out My Closet" and "
Lose Yourself".
Jamaican
reggae group The Silvertones recorded an upbeat ska version entitled "Skanking Matilda"
A
Pitjantjatjara language version of the song, performed by Trevor Adamson, an Australian country/gospel singer, can be found on the 1999 album ''Putumayo Presents: World Playground''.
Literature
In the story "
The Mountain Movers" by Australian
science fiction writer
A. Bertram Chandler, the song gets new words in the mouth of future Australian space adventurers, with the first stanza running:
:"When the jolly Jumbuk lifted from Port Woomera
:Out and away for Altair Three
:Glad were we all to kiss the tired old Earth goodbye
:Who'll come a-sailing in Jumbuk with me?"
The plot of
Terry Pratchett's
Discworld novel ''
The Last Continent'' is set in an Australia-like locale and includes a parody on the events of "Waltzing Matilda".
Famous Matildas
Matilda, the Commonwealth Games mascot
The
Australia women's national soccer team, are nicknamed the
Matildas, after this song.
Matilda the
Kangaroo was the mascot at the
1982 Commonwealth Games held in
Brisbane, Queensland. Matilda was a cartoon kangaroo, who appeared as a 13-metre high (42 feet 8 inches) mechanical kangaroo at the opening ceremony, accompanied by
Rolf Harris singing "Waltzing Matilda".
See also
★ "
And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"
★
1st Marine Division
External links
★
Waltzing Matilda - Australian National University (excellent history page, lots of Paterson and Australian bits).
★
Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me? online exhibition from the National Library of Australia
★
Papers of Christina McPherson relating to the song "Waltzing Matilda" digitised and held by the National Library of Australia
★
Waltzing Matilda - Standing Stones website
★
''On the Beach'' and "Waltzing Matilda"
★
''Waltzing Matilda'' within MusicAustralia - includes material in a wide variety of formats from
Australian libraries via the Australian National Bibliographic Database
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