Song

"Landing at Anzac" by Charles Dixon

"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"

I first heard this anti-war song in the mid-1970s. It was written by a Scottish-Australian fellow called Eric Bogle. The song tells a story of World War I. In Australia's collective memory, the name Gallipoli spells bitter  tragedy for that is where 8709 young Australian  troops were killed in the winter of 1915-16 and a further 28,150 suffered significant injuries. They were a long way from home fighting a war that arguably had very little to do with them.

Incidentally, whenever I hear the song I think of my brother Paul who played fiddle in a semi-professional band called Dingle Spike. It was on their one and only album - also called Dingle Spike. They should have toured Irish music venues on the east coast of America in 1978 but because Paul had once been a card carrying member of the British Communist Party, the tour had to be cancelled.

"Waltzing Matilda" is of course Australia's unofficial national anthem and it also oozes sorrow. I did not wish to copy and paste all of the lyrics of "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" but here at least are the opening lines followed by the song itself sung meaningfully by Vincent Fottroll in Dublin's fair city:-

When I was a young man I carried me pack

And I lived the free life of the rover

From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback

I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915 my country said: Son,

It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done

So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun

And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda

When the ship pulled away from the quay

And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers

We sailed off for Gallipoli...