Waltzing Matilda

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Melody by Waltzing Matilda

Waltzing Matilda is Australia's most famous folk song and has often been proposed as the official national anthem . The text was written in 1895 by the Australian poet Banjo Paterson , who is very popular in Australia due to his numerous other poems. It was set to music by Christina Macpherson to the music of the Scottish song Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielea , which was composed in 1818 by James Barr .

Content and story

Swagman around 1901

The song tells the story of a swagman (migrant worker, tramp ) who set up camp at a billabong (a waterhole in the Australian outback ) under a eucalyptus tree ( Coolibah ). He catches a roaming but not ownerless Jumbuck (stubborn, hard-to-shear ram ) for slaughter. When the ram's owner appears accompanied by three policemen, he prefers to drown himself than to lose his freedom through arrest.

The story presumably refers to an incident during the sheep shearers strike in 1894 . Today it is widely accepted in Australia that Waltzing Matilda goes back to the following event: In September 1894, during the second sheep shearers strike, which followed the sheep shearers strike of 1891 , an incident occurred at the Dagworth sheep breeding station north of Winton . Striking sheep shearers set fire to the shearers' shed at this station and also fired handguns and rifles in the air. Numerous sheep died in the fire in the shed. The owner of the sheep breeding station and three police officers charged Samuel Hoffmeister, known as Frenchy, for the crime. This then committed suicide at the Combo waterhole.

Waltzing Matilda has nothing to do with waltzing . Rather, the word goes Waltzing on the word rolling back, and Matilda is a name for the bag Tucker , the standard in the 19th century in Australia shoulder bag with all essential utensils of Tramps in the Australian outback.

For a short time the song was recognized as the national anthem alongside Advance Australia Fair and was used so at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal . After a referendum in 1977, Advance Australia Fair was chosen as the sole national anthem. Nevertheless, many Australians still sing Waltzing Matilda with great devotion.

The piece is also the unofficial anthem of the rugby league national team , the Kangaroos; and the national rugby union team , the Wallabies. Based on the song title, the Australian women's national soccer team is called The Matildas . Waltzing Matilda was performed by Slim Dusty at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney . Kylie Minogue also opened the following Paralympics with Waltzing Matilda .

In Winton, Queensland there is a museum especially for Waltzing Matilda , the Waltzing Matilda Center .

Other versions and similar songs

The composer Ernest Gold processed Waltzing Matilda in 1959 in instrumental form for his film music for Stanley Kramer's Das letzte Ufer , thus making the Australian folk tune internationally known.

The US singer Tom Waits combined the song with his own lyrics and new melody lines in Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen) . In this song from 1976, which was covered by Rod Stewart in 1992, the chorus Waltzing Matilda has a different meaning than in the original - it is about the resigned confrontation with alcohol addiction.

A German version of this version was published by the Austrian songwriter Wolfgang Ambros .

In his piece And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda , Eric Bogle addresses the story of the suffering of a war invalid, referring to the song. This piece has been covered by the Dubliners , the Pogues and Joan Baez , among others .

The Cologne cabaret artist Jürgen Becker created a Cologne version in 1995 : Funkemarieche . In this version - heard on the CD Jürgen Becker is not allowed to sing - a young man describes his love for a girl who, as a dance marie in a carnival club, remains unreachable to him despite all the efforts.

song lyrics

There is no official song text for Waltzing Matilda and smaller variations can be found at various other sources. The lower version represents the famous variation “You'll never take me alive said he”. It was first introduced by the Billy Tea company, as Paterson's original text referred directly to drowning , which the tea company found too negative .

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 till his billy boiled,
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 watched and waited till his billy boiled,
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.

Down 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
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 came the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred,
Up 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 and sprang into the billabong,
You'll never take me alive, said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.

Web links

Wikisource: Waltzing Matilda  - Sources and full texts (English)
Commons : Waltzing Matilda  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Notes and individual references

  1. (English) Waltzing Matilda, courtesy of a tea-leaf near you
  2. Christina Macpherson / Marie Cowan (music), Andrew Barton Paterson (text), Waltzing Matilda . Singer: Peter Dawson, arrangement: Thomas Wood. London, March 3, 1938.
  3. Translation aid : swag - sleeping roll , consisting of wool blanket and canvas tarpaulin ; swagman - migrant worker; Matilda - name of his bundle; Waltzing Matilda - be on the roll, be on the move; billabong - water hole, dead river arm; billy - tea kettle; tucker bag - food bag ; jumbuck - sheep; squatter - ranchers; trooper - policeman; thoroughbred - thoroughbred (horse)