Album: Small Change (1976)

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• Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
  I got what I paid for now
  See ya tomorrow, hey Frank can I borrow
  A couple of bucks from you
  To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
  
  I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
  And 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 waltzing Matilda with me
  
  Now the dogs are barking
  And the taxicabs parking
  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 waltzing Matilda with me
  
  Now I've lost my St. Christopher
  Now that I've kissed her and the
  And the one-armed bandit knows
  And the maverick Chinaman, and the cold-blooded signs
  And the girls down by the strip tease shows go
  Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
  
  No, I don't want your sympathy
  The fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
  Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
  They want a piece of the action anyhow
  Go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
  
  And you can ask any sailor
  And the keys from the jailer
  And the old men in 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 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 watchman flame keepers
  And goodnight Matilda, too Writer/s: Tom Waits
  Publisher: BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 7

• Maggi Lloyd-davies from Kells Republic Of Ireland Many comments have been made about his inspiration for this. Inspiration doesn't have to come from one source. I think this comes many sources. That's his genius. Love this song because it has so much of him in it.
• Michael from Hornslet, DenmarkActually Matilda refers to the Danish singer and violinist Matilda Bondo with whom Tom Waits had a short, but hot affair with in the early 1970's. The undertitel to the song also refers back to the land of Amled (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen). So Matilde can proudly take her great share of the responsibility why this great song was ever written.
• Adrian from Melbourne, Australia"Matilda" is what swagmen (hobos) in Australia called their "swags" (bedrolls). So "waltzing matilda" was basically a never-ending dance along the road with one's burden
• Rocket from New Orleans, LaIn Wild Years it explains that Waits would hang around skid row bars doing character sketches for his songs. One day he told his producer that all those guys are on skid row because of a woman. "A battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace and a wound that will never heal." In Australia "Waltzing Matilda" means to go walk-about (drifting in American).
• John from Mobile, AlFor the record, Bushmills is Irish whiskey.
• Eb from Orlando Metro, FlThis song is brilliant in that tragic, doomed, seedy, Sid & Nancy, Charles Bukowski, kind of way. If you spent any time around alcoholics or have battled the curse of the bottle yourself, you will get this. Nothing seems to make sense, yet it a comes together in a fuzzy, poetic, alcoholic haze.
• Donagh from Nashville, Late Of Nj, TnA Google (or other search engine) search of Tom Traubert's Blues will bring up countless sites rendering numerous theories speculating on the meaning behind this song. College theses on the topic are not uncommon. (kinda sad) Testimonials of people supposedly 'in the know' about the details are plentiful. I spent several hours perusing fascinating writings on the topic of this one song. Some of it paints Waits as a tragic character, who will neither deny or confirm any personal relationship to the song. It's really worth a look.

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