"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known bush ballad

Bush ballad

Bush songs or bush ballads are a folk music and poetry tradition in Australia's outback. The rhyming songs, poems and tales often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia, a young country. The lyrical tradition of bush songs was born of settlers and influenced by Aboriginal...

. A country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 folk song

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, the song has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia".

The title is Australian slang for travelling by foot with one's goods in a "Matilda" (bag) slung over one's back. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or "swagman

Swagman

A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...

", making a drink of tea at a bush camp and capturing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker for the theft, the worker commits suicide by drowning himself in the nearby watering hole and then goes on to haunt the site.

The original lyrics were written in 1895 by poet and nationalist Banjo Paterson

Banjo Paterson

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...

. 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

Winton, Queensland

-Qantas:Winton was one of the founding towns of the Australian airline Qantas. The first board meeting was held at the Winton Club on 10 February 1921.-Waltzing Matilda:...

.

The song was first recorded in 1926 as performed by John Collinson and Russell Callow. This recording of "Waltzing Matilda" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia Registry in 2008.

Writing of the song

The words to the song were written in 1895 by Banjo Paterson

Banjo Paterson

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...

, a famous Australian poet, and the music was written (based on a folk tune) by Christina Macpherson

Christina Macpherson

Christina Rutherford Macpherson is credited with having re-played a tune she'd heard circa 1895 which the Australian poet A.B. Patterson then set to words....

, who wrote herself that she "was no musician, but she would do her best." Paterson wrote the piece while staying at the Dagworth Homestead

Dagworth Station

Dagworth Station is a cattle station located north-west of Winton in central west Queensland in Australia. It was established between 1879 and 1884. In 1894 the station's shearing shed was burned down along with 7 others in the district as part of a protest by shearers over wages. Samuel...

, a bush station in Queensland. While he was there his hosts played him a traditional Celtic folk tune

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 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 probably based on the Scottish song "Thou Bonnie Wood Of Craigielea", which Macpherson heard played by a band at the Warrnambool

Warrnambool, Victoria

-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...

 steeplechase

Steeplechase (horse racing)

The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...

. Robert Tannahill

Robert Tannahill

‎Robert Tannahill was a Scottish poet. Known as the 'Weaver Poet', his music and poetry is contemporaneous with that of Robert Burns.He was born at Castle Street in Paisley on 3 June 1774, the fourth son in a family of seven...

 wrote the words in 1805 and James Barr

James Barr (composer)

James Barr was a Scottish composer who composed the tune which inspired the tune now used for the unofficial Australian anthem "Waltzing Matilda." Born in Tarbolton in South Ayrshire, Barr taught music and worked for a publisher in Glasgow...

 composed the music in 1818. In 1893 it was arranged for brass band

Brass band

A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...

 by Thomas Bulch

Thomas Bulch

Thomas Edward Bulch , born in New Shildon, Durham, England, was a noted Australian musician and composer.-Biography:...

. The tune again was possibly based on the old melody of "Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself", composed by John Field

John Field (composer)

John Field was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi...

 (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 the song bears to "The Bold Fusilier" (a.k.a. Marching through Rochester), a song sung to the same tune and dated by some back to the 18th century but first printed in 1900.
A bold fusilier came marching back through Rochester
Off from the wars in the north country,
And he sang as he marched
Through the crowded streets of Rochester,
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?

It has been widely accepted that "Waltzing Matilda" is potentially based on the following story:

In Queensland in 1891 the Great Shearers' Strike

1891 Australian shearers' strike

350px|thumb|Shearers' strike camp, Hughenden, central Queensland, 1891.The 1891 shearers' strike is one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes. Working conditions for sheep shearers in 19th century Australia weren't good. In 1891 wool was one of Australia's largest industries...

 brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the Premier

Premiers of Queensland

Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and...

, Samuel Griffith

Samuel Griffith

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia.-Early life:...

, called in the military.

In September 1894, on a station called Dagworth (north of Winton), some shearers were again on strike

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

. 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 known as "French(y)". Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the Combo Waterhole

Combo Waterhole

Combo Waterhole is a waterhole on the Diamantina River in Queensland, Australia. The song Waltzing Matilda is probably based on a real incident that happened there in the 1890s. It is also noted for historic stone-pitched overshot weirs built by Chinese labourers in 1883.-External links:* *...

.

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

Combo Waterhole

Combo Waterhole is a waterhole on the Diamantina River in Queensland, Australia. The song Waltzing Matilda is probably based on a real incident that happened there in the 1890s. It is also noted for historic stone-pitched overshot weirs built by Chinese labourers in 1883.-External links:* *...

, where Macpherson may have told this story to Paterson.

The song itself was first performed on 6 April 1895 by Sir Herbert Ramsay at the North Gregory Hotel in Winton, Queensland

Winton, Queensland

-Qantas:Winton was one of the founding towns of the Australian airline Qantas. The first board meeting was held at the Winton Club on 10 February 1921.-Waltzing Matilda:...

. The occasion was a banquet for the Premier of Queensland. It became an instant success.

In 2008, Australian historian Peter Forrest claimed that the widespread belief that Paterson had penned the ballad as a socialist anthem, inspired by the Great Shearers' Strike, was false and a "misappropriation" by political groups. Instead, Forrest asserted that Paterson had in fact written the self-described "ditty" to impress Winton woman Christina Macpherson, whose family he visited in January 1895 and with whom he flirted despite being engaged to someone else. It was to Macpherson's melody that he fitted the words of his song. This theory was not shared by Professor Ross Fitzgerald, who argued that the defeat of the strike only several months before the song's creation would have at least been in Paterson's mind "subconsciously", and thus was likely as an additional inspiration for the song.

In February 2010, ABC News reported an investigation by barrister Trevor Monti that the death of Hoffmeister was more akin to a gangland assassination than to suicide. The same report asserts "Writer Matthew Richardson says the song was most likely written as a carefully worded political allegory to record and comment on the events of the shearers' strike."

Ownership

In 1903 the song was used by the Billy Tea company for use as an advertising jingle

Jingle

A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...

, 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 & Robertson

Angus & Robertson

Angus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.- Bookselling history...

 Publishers for five pounds (the then-currency).

The song was copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

ed by an American publisher, Carl Fischer Music

Carl Fischer Music

Carl Fischer Music is a major publisher of sheet music based in New York City that has been in business since 1872. As one of the few remaining family-owned music publishers, it supplies educational materials to professional and beginning musicians of all ages, as well as new music works.Notable...

, in 1941 as an original composition. Although no copyright applies to the song in Australia and many other countries, the Australian Olympic organisers had to pay royalties to Carl Fischer Music following the song being played at the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

. Carl Fischer Musics copyright hold is due to end in 2011. Arrangements such as those claimed by Roger D. Magoffin remain in copyright in America.

Typical lyrics

There are no "official" lyrics to "Waltzing Matilda" and slight variations can be found in different sources. This version incorporates the famous "You'll never catch me alive said he" variation introduced by the Billy Tea company. Paterson's original lyrics referred to "drowning himself 'neath the coolibah tree".


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 that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved 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 shoved 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 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."

Plot and details

The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker making a crude cup of tea at a bush camp and capturing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's ostensible owner arrives with three policemen to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small lake and goes on to haunt the site. The lyrics contain many distinctively Australian English

Australian English

Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....

 words, some now rarely used outside this song. These include:

waltzing : derived from the German term auf der Walz, which means to travel while working as a craftsman

Artisan

An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...

 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 carpenter

Carpentry

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

s.
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 greatcoat

Greatcoat

A greatcoat, also known as a watchcoat, is a large overcoat typically made of wool designed for warmth and protection against the weather. Its collar and cuffs can be turned out to protect the face and hands from cold and rain, and the short cape around the shoulders provides extra warmth and...

s 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.

The National Library of Australia states:

Matilda is an old Teutonic female name meaning ‘mighty battle maid’. This may have informed the use of ‘Matilda’ as a slang term to mean a de facto wife who accompanied a wanderer. In the Australian bush a man's swag was regarded as a sleeping partner, hence his ‘Matilda’. (Letter to Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill, KG from Harry Hastings Pearce, 19 February 1958. Harry Pearce Papers, NLA Manuscript Collection, MS2765)

swagman

Swagman

A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...

 : a man who travelled the country looking for work. The swagman's "swag" was a bed roll that bundled his belongings.
billabong

Billabong

Billabong is an Australian English word meaning a small lake, specifically an oxbow lake, a section of still water adjacent to a river, cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end...

 : an oxbow lake

Oxbow lake

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...

 (a cut-off river bend) found alongside a meandering river.
coolibah tree

Eucalyptus coolabah

Eucalyptus coolabah is a eucalypt of riparian zones and is found throughout Australia from arid inland to coastal regions. The plant is commonly called coolibah or coolabah, the name being a loanword from the Indigenous Australian Yuwaaliyaay word, gulabaa.Propagation is dependent on periods of...

 : a kind of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

 tree which grows near billabongs.
jumbuck

Jumbuck

Jumbuck is an Australian term for sheep, featured in Banjo Paterson's poem "Waltzing Matilda." It generally denotes a difficult to shear sheep, either large or untamed....

 : a sheep.
billy

Billycan

A billycan, more commonly known simply as a billy or occasionally as a billy can , is a lightweight cooking pot which is used on a campfire or a camping stove.-Usage and etymology of the term:...

 : a can for boiling water in, usually 2–3 pint

Pint

The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...

s.
Tucker bag

Tucker bag

A tucker bag is a traditional food or dinner storage bag used in the Australian outback. Typically a tucker bag was carried by a swagman or bushman. In its basic design a tucker bag is a pouch or bag with a single entry typically closed with a drawstring...

 : a bag for carrying food ("tucker").
troopers

Trooper (police rank)

Trooper is a rank used by several civilian police forces in the United States. In its plural form, troopers, it generally refers to members of state highway patrol or state police agencies, even though those officers may not necessarily be of the rank of trooper.For example, in the Louisiana State...

 : policemen.
squatter

Squatting (pastoral)

In Australian history, a squatter was one who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock.  Initially often having no legal rights to the land, they gained its usage by being the first Europeans in the area....

 : 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. The squatter's claim to the land may be as uncertain as the swagman's claim to the jumbuck.

Variations

The lyrics of Waltzing Matilda have been changed since it was written.

In a facsimile of the first part of the original manuscript, included in "Singer of the bush", a collection of Paterson's works published by Lansdowne Press in 1983, the first two verses appear as follows:

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 and 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.

Some corrections in the manuscript are evident; the verses 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."

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."

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."

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 that uses "billabongs" instead of "billabong".

Current variations of the third line of the first verse are "And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong" or "And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled". Another variation is that the third line of each chorus is kept unchanged from the first chorus, or is changed to the third line of the preceding verse.

There is also the very popular so-called Queensland version that has a different chorus, one very similar to that used by Paterson:

Oh there once was a swagman camped in a billabong

Under the shade of the 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 his thoroughbred

Down came policemen one two three

Whose is the jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?

You'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 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 which 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

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

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 in Sydney by singer Slim Dusty

Slim Dusty

David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...

, as well as at the Opening Ceremony of the subsequent Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games

2000 Summer Paralympics

The 2000 Paralympic Games were held in Sydney, Australia, from 18 October to 29 October. The eleventh Summer Paralympic Games, an estimated 3800 athletes took part in the Sydney programme. They commenced with the opening ceremony on 18 October 2000...

 by Australian pop star Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

. It was previously sung at the Opening Ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games

1982 Commonwealth Games

The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September–9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the...

 in Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 by Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

. It is sung during the pre-game entertainment of the Australian Football League Grand Final

AFL Grand Final

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...

 each year.

The song has been recorded by many Australian musicians and singers, including John Williamson

John Williamson (singer)

John Robert Williamson AM is an Australian country music singer-songwriter. Williamson has released over thirty-two albums, ten videos, five DVDs, and two lyric books...

, Peter Dawson, John Schumann

John Schumann

John Lewis Schumann is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit "I Was Only 19 ", a song exploring the psychological and medical side-effects of serving in the Australian forces during...

, The Seekers

The Seekers

The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop music group which were originally formed in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States...

, Tenor Australis, Thomas Edmonds, Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

 and Lazy Harry. Bands and artists from other nations, including Wilf Carter

Wilf Carter

Wilf Carter , also known as Montana Slim, was a Canadian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and yodeller...

 (Montana Slim), The Irish Rovers

The Irish Rovers

The Irish Rovers is a Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein's "The Unicorn",...

, The Swingle Singers

The Swingle Singers

The Swingle Singers are a mostly a cappella vocal group formed in 1962 in Paris, France by Ward Swingle with Anne Germain, Jeanette Baucomont, Jean Cussac and others. Christiane Legrand, the sister of composer Michel Legrand, was the group's lead soprano through 1972. Until 2011 the group...

, and the Red Army Choir

Red Army Choir

The A.V. Alexandrov Russian army twice red-bannered academic song and dance ensemble , in short, the Alexandrov ensemble is a performing ensemble that serves as the official army choir of the Russian armed forces...

, have also recorded the song; as well, the song forms the basis of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticising those who seek to glorify it...

" by Scottish/Australian songwriter Eric Bogle

Eric Bogle

Eric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...

 (itself frequently covered, perhaps most famously by The Pogues

The Pogues

The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...

).

Bert Lloyd recorded the 1903 version of the song on 'The Great Australian Legend', Topic Records

Topic Records

Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.-History:...

, LP 12T 203, 1971.

There is a Danish version of "Waltzing Matilda" from 1940 translated by Lulu Ziegler and Victor Skaarup and sung by Lulu Ziegler: "Dans nu, Matilda" / Dance now Mathilda.

The film Once a Jolly Swagman

Once a Jolly Swagman

Once a Jolly Swagman is a 1949 British film starring Dirk Bogarde, Bonar Colleano, Bill Owen and Sid James. It is centred around the sport of speedway racing, which was at its peak of popularity at the time. The film is based on the 1946 novel by Montagu Slater.The title of the film refers to the...

(1949) uses "Waltzing Matilda" throughout its musical score and the song is heard sung as well.

The score of the 1959 film On the Beach

On the Beach (1959 film)

On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic drama film based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel of the same name. The film features Gregory Peck , Ava Gardner , Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins...

, written by Ernest Gold, is based heavily on motifs from "Waltzing Matilda". The film, about the end of the world via a nuclear holocaust

Nuclear holocaust

Nuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....

, is set in Australia, and director Stanley Kramer

Stanley Kramer

Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer. Kramer was responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies...

 was insistent on the "Waltzing Matilda" motif. The song is first heard during the opening credits to the film. The song itself is heard in the last minutes of the movie. At the time of the film, Jimmie Rodgers

Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)

James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...

 had his version of the song in the US charts at #41. He had recorded two versions of the song.

Folk musicians such as Josh White

Josh White

Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....

 and Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

 have recorded versions of the song.

Tim Morgan recorded a version of the song.

The Australian TV series Secret Valley

Secret Valley

Secret Valley was an Australian children's television adventure series from 1980 made by the Grundy Organisation and first shown on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

had "Waltzing Matilda" with different lyrics as its theme song.

The Family Car Songbook (1983) presents a "translation" of the song, using the same musical score, into an "American" version of singing the same ballad.

The score of the 2008 Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann

Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...

 film Australia

Australia (2008 film)

Australia is a 2008 epic historical romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood...

featured a version of "Waltzing Matilda" performed by Australian singer Angela Little.

In 1961, Australian songwriter Jack O'Hagan

Jack O'Hagan

John Francis O'Hagan was an Australian musician.O'Hagan was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. He was the son of Pat O'Hagan, a hotelkeeper and Alice née Quinlan. He went to school at St Patrick's College and then later at Xavier College in Melbourne...

 provided new lyrics to the traditional tune to be called "God Bless Australia

God Bless Australia

God Bless Australia was a proposed 1961 Australian national anthem by Australian songwriter Jack O'Hagan who provided patriotic lyrics to the traditional tune of Waltzing Matilda.-Lyrics:Here in this God given land of ours, Australia...

" (see that article for its lyrics) that he hoped would become the Australian national anthem.

There is an Olympic version called "Goodbye Olympians" (really "Song of Farewell") specially written by a Melbourne poet William Tainsh. It was sung at the closing ceremony of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.

Homeward, homeward, soon you will be going now
Momok wonargo ora go-yai,(*)
Joy of our meeting, pain of our parting,
Shine in our eyes as we bid you good-bye.
Good-bye, Olympians; good-bye, Olympians,
(On comes the evening, west goes the day.)
Roll up your swags and pack them full of memories,
Fair be the wind as you speed on your way.
Blessings attend you, Fortune befriend you,
All good go with you over the sea.
May the song of our fathers – "Will ye no' come back again ?"
Sing in your hearts thro' the years yet to be.
Come to Australia, back to Australia,
(Mist on the hills and the sun breaking through)
With the sliprails down and the billy boiling merrily,
Wide open arms will be waiting for you.

(*) Aboriginal words meaning "Farewell, brother. by and by come back."

At the close of the song, the band will lead into the chorus of "Will Ye No' Come Back Again?" The words are:
Will ye no' come back again
Will ye no' come back again,
Belter loved ye canna' be:
Will ye no come back again?

Derivative musical works

During the 1950s, a parody of the original entitled "Once A Learned Doctor" gained some currency in university circles. It featured lyrics rewritten with reference to the split in the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in the period 1954–1957.

In 1958, Bill Haley & His Comets

Bill Haley & His Comets

Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...

 recorded a version with new lyrics entitled "Rockin' Matilda" about a beautiful Australian girl named Matilda.

The melody is used in Harold Baum's "Waltz Round The Cycle" in The Biochemists' Songbook. mp3

Rambling Syd Rumpo

Rambling Syd Rumpo

Rambling Syd Rumpo was a folk singer character played by English comedian Kenneth Williams in the radio comedy series Round the Horne.The Rambling Syd sketches generally began with a short discourse on the nature of the song which would inexorably follow; these discourses in their own right would...

 in Round the Horne

Round the Horne

Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...

did a parody of "Waltzing Matilda" beginning "Once long ago in the shade of a goolie bush..."

"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticising those who seek to glorify it...

" was written by Eric Bogle

Eric Bogle

Eric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...

 in 1971. The song concerns the Australian experience at the Battle of Gallipoli and Anzac Day

ANZAC Day

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...

. It incorporates the melody and a few lines of "Waltzing Matilda"'s lyrics at its conclusion.

American singer-songwriter Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

 combined "Waltzing Matilda" with his own material in "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind In Copenhagen)" on his 1976 album Small Change

Small Change

Small Change is an album by Tom Waits, released in 1976 on Asylum Records. It was recorded in July 1976.-Production:Small Change was recorded, direct to 2-track stereo tape, July 15,19,20,21, and 29, 1976 at the Wally Heider Recording Studio, in Hollywood, USA under the production of Bones...

. This song was subsequently performed by Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 and released as a single titled "Tom Traubert's Blues (Waltzing Matilda)" in 1992. He then included it on his Lead Vocalist

Lead Vocalist (album)

Lead Vocalist is a compilation album released by Rod Stewart on February 22, 1993 . It was released by Warner Bros. Records in the UK and Germany , but was never released in the US...

album in 1993.

The lyrics to Lou Reed

Lou Reed

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

's song "Street Hassle

Street Hassle (song)

"Street Hassle" is a song recorded by Lou Reed for his 1978 album of the same name. It is 10 minutes and 56 seconds long and divided into three distinct sections: "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle," and "Slipaway." Part one, "Waltzing Matilda," describes a woman picking up and paying a male...

" from the 1978 album of the same name

Street Hassle

Street Hassle is the eighth solo album by Lou Reed, originally released by Arista Records. The album is notable as the first commercially released pop album to employ binaural recording technology. Street Hassle combines live concert tapings and studio recordings.The album is also notable for...

 mentions a "waltzing Matilda"

Jamaican reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 group The Silvertones recorded an upbeat ska version entitled "Skanking Matilda".

A Pitjantjatjara language version of the song, performed by Trevor Adamson

Trevor Adamson

Trevor Adamson is a country/gospel singer best known for his song Nyanpi Matilda, a Pitjantjatjara version of Waltzing Matilda. He is from Pukatja, South Australia and sings in both Pitjantjatjara and English...

, an Australian country/gospel singer, can be found on the 1999 album Putumayo Presents: World Playground.

The closing theme for the 1982 Australian film The Man From Snowy River, itself based on another poem by Banjo Paterson, incorporates a small piece of the tune of "Waltzing Matilda".

The fanfare of the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

, composed and arranged by James Morrison

James Morrison (musician)

James Morrison AM is an Australian jazz musician who plays numerous instruments, but is best known for his trumpet playing...

, incorporates a small portion of "Waltzing Matilda".

In 2003, the Scared Weird Little Guys

Scared Weird Little Guys

Scared Weird Little Guys were an Australian comedy music duo formed in July 1990, comprising John Chaplin-Fleming and Rusty Berther...

 released "Cleanin' Out My Tuckerbag", a comedic spoof

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of the song, done in the style of Eminem

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...

's songs "Cleanin' Out My Closet

Cleanin' Out My Closet

"Cleanin' Out My Closet" is a song by American rapper Eminem released in 2002. It was from his worldwide hit album, The Eminem Show and was later re-released in 2005 for Eminem's greatest hits album Curtain Call: The Hits. "Cleanin' Out My Closet" was the second single released from the album...

" and "Lose Yourself

Lose Yourself

"Lose Yourself" is an Academy Award winning song by American hip-hop artist Eminem, released as the first single from the original soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile on October 22, 2002. It was written and produced by Eminem himself, along with longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, one half of the...

".

On the occasion of Queensland's 150-year celebrations in 2009, Opera Queensland

Opera Queensland

Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...

 produced the revue

Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

 Waltzing Our Matilda, staged at the Conservatorium Theatre and subsequently touring 12 regional centres in Queensland. The show was created by Jason

Jason Barry-Smith

Jason Barry-Smith is an Australian operatic baritone, vocal coach, composer and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland, The Queensland Orchestra, Seven Network, and the Queensland Youth Choir.- Education :...

 and Leisa Barry-Smith and Narelle French. The story line used the fictional process of Banjo Paterson writing the poem when he visited Queensland in 1895 to present episodes of four famous Australians: bass-baritone

Bass-baritone

A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...

 Peter Dawson (1882–1961), soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

 Dame Nellie Melba

Nellie Melba

Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...

 (1861–1931), Bundaberg

Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area of the Bundaberg Region and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region...

-born tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 Donald Smith (1922–1998), and soprano Gladys Moncrieff

Gladys Moncrieff

Gladys Moncrieff OBE was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'.-Early years:...

, also from Bundaberg. The performers were Jason-Barry Smith as Banjo Paterson, Guy Booth as Dawson, David Kidd as Smith, Emily Burke as Melba, Zoe Traylor as Moncrieff, and Donna Balson (piano, voice).

Literature

In the story "The Mountain Movers" by Australian science fiction writer A. Bertram Chandler

A. Bertram Chandler

Arthur Bertram Chandler was a British-Australian science fiction author. He also wrote under the pseudonyms George Whitley, George Whitely, Andrew Dunstan, and S.H.M....

, 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

Terry Pratchett

Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...

's Discworld

Discworld

Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....

 novel The Last Continent

The Last Continent

The Last Continent is the twenty-second Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. First published in 1998, it mocks the aspects of time traveling such as the grandfather paradox and the Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder"...

is set in an Australia-like locale and includes a parody on the events of "Waltzing Matilda".

Status

Official use

The song has never been the officially recognised national anthem in Australia. Unofficially, however, it is often used in similar circumstances. The song was one of four included in a national plebiscite to choose Australia's national song

Australian plebiscite, 1977 (National Song)

As an additional question in the 1977 referendum, the voters were polled on which song they would prefer to be used to mark occasions where a particularly Australian national identity was desired. Voting on this question was not compulsory...

 held on 21 May 1977 by the Fraser Government

Malcolm Fraser

John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...

 to determine which song was preferred as Australia's national anthem. "Waltzing Matilda" received 28% of the vote compared with 43% for "Advance Australia Fair

Advance Australia Fair

"Advance Australia Fair" is the official national anthem of Australia. Created by the Scottish-born composer, Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, but did not gain its status as the official anthem until 1984. Until then, the song was sung in Australia as a patriotic song...

", 19% for "God Save the Queen

God Save the Queen

"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...

" and 10% for "Song of Australia

Song of Australia

"The Song of Australia" was written by English-born poet Caroline J. Carleton in 1859 for a competition sponsored by the Gawler Institute. The music for the song was composed by the German-born Carl Linger , a prominent member of the Australian Forty-Eighters.The song was popularised in Australia...

".

The lyrics are hidden on the final pages of Australian passports, such as above and below the words "notice" on some passports.

Sports

"Waltzing Matilda" was used at the 1974 World Cup and at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976

1976 Summer Olympics

The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

 and, as a response to the New Zealand All Blacks haka

Haka of the All Blacks

The Haka is a traditional Maori war dance from New Zealand. There are thousands of Haka that are performed by various tribes and cultural groups throughout New Zealand. The best known Haka of them all is called "Ka Mate". It has been performed by countless New Zealand teams both locally and...

, it has gained popularity as a sporting anthem for the Australia national rugby union team

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

. It is also performed, along with "Advance Australia Fair

Advance Australia Fair

"Advance Australia Fair" is the official national anthem of Australia. Created by the Scottish-born composer, Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, but did not gain its status as the official anthem until 1984. Until then, the song was sung in Australia as a patriotic song...

", at the annual AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 Grand Final.

Matilda the Kangaroo

Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

 was the mascot at the 1982 Commonwealth Games

1982 Commonwealth Games

The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September–9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the...

 held in Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, 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

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

 singing "Waltzing Matilda".

The Australian women's national soccer team

Australia women's national association football team

The Australia women's national association football team, nicknamed the Matildas , represents Australia in international women's association football and is governed by Football Federation Australia . The team has regularly qualified for both the Women's World Cup and the Olympics although has won...

 is nicknamed the Matildas after this song.

Military units

It is used as the quick march of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment is a regular light infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1 RAR was first formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion in 1945 and since then has been deployed on active service during the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War...

 and as the official song of the U.S. 1st Marine Division, commemorating the time the unit spent in Australia during the Second World War. Partly also used in the British Royal Tank Regiment's slow march of "Royal Tank Regiment", because an early British tank model was called "Matilda".

External links

• Roger Clarke's Waltzing Matilda homepage
• Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me? online exhibition from the National Library of Australia
• Matildacentre.com.au Official website of the Waltzing Matilda Centre, an exhibit in the Qantilda Museum, which is located in Winton, Outback Queensland, 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
• Waltzing Matilda within MusicAustralia – includes material in a wide variety of formats from Australian libraries via the Australian National Bibliographic Database
• Waltzing Matilda 'not socialist'
• Waltzing Matilda – the musical, musically correct transcription of the Christina Macpherson
  Christina Macpherson
  Christina Rutherford Macpherson is credited with having re-played a tune she'd heard circa 1895 which the Australian poet A.B. Patterson then set to words....
  
   version.
• Playable score, requires the Sorch plug-in from Sibelius (software)
• Billabong residents file noise complaint against ghost of Jolly Swagman
• Listen to the first recording of the song version of Waltzing Matilida on australianscreen online
• ABC Radio National "The Matilda Myth" documentary website (February 2011)