Tom Traubert's Blues

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did

I got what I paid for now

See you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow

A couple of bucks from you?

To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me

I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley

I'm tired of all these soldiers here

No one speaks English, and everything's broken

And my Stacys are soaking wet

To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me

Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cabs parking

And a lot they can do for me

I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open

And I'm down on my knees tonight

Old Bushmills I staggered, you buried the dagger in

Your silhouette window light

To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me

Now I lost my Saint Christopher, now that I've kissed her

And the one-armed bandit knows

And the maverick Chinamen, and the cold-blooded signs

And the girls down by the strip-tease shows

Go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me

No, I don't want your sympathy, the fugitives say

That the streets aren't for dreaming now

And manslaughter dragnets, the ghosts that sell memories

They want a piece of the action anyhow

To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me

And you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailor

And the old men in the wheelchairs know

That Matilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred

And she follows wherever you may go

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me

And it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace

And a wound that will never heal

No prima donna, the perfume is on

An old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey

And goodnight to the street sweepers

The night watchmen, flame keepers

And goodnight to Matilda, too

• Artist:The Wild Reeds
• Album:Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits