Define lyrics of “Waltzing Matilda” song:

Waltzing Matilda Lyrics:

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 boil,
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 boil
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 thorough-bred
Down came the troopers One Two Three
Whose 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
Whose that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker-bag
You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman sprang in to the billabong
You’ll never catch 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.

Definitions: 

swagman- a man who traveled the country looking for work. A swag is a bed rolled up to carry things in.

billabong-an oxbow lake, or cut-off riverbend, found alongside a river

Coolibah tree- a species of eucalyptus tree that grows near billabongs

billy boil– a can that you boil water in

jumbuck– a sheep

tucker bag– a bag for carrying food

squatter-an Australian settler/farmer claiming “squatting” on land that they had no legal rights to

thoroughbred– a breed of horse

Matilda– bad slung over someone’s back

trooper-police

Waltzing Matilda Live Music from Australia Day 2009: I could not find a good video for the original but this one was from an Australian Day performance so it gets the gist of it being the unofficial national anthem across!

“Waltzing Matilda” is Australia’s unofficial national anthem. The title came from Australian slang meaning walking with a bag slung over a swagman’s back. So the swagman was walking around the bush finding work and somewhere to settle for a bit and he stopped at a camp near the river (billabong) and put his swag out under a tree. As he was waiting for his water to boil to make food he saw a sheep (jumbuck) walking by so he took it to eat. The sheep was not wild, so the squatter (farmer) that owned the sheep came up on his horse along with three troopers (policemen) to get his sheep back and most likely arrest the swagman for theft. The swagman needed to act quickly so he jumped into the billabong and drowned (suicide) to escape. His ghost still haunts the billabong he died in.

Not too sure why this is recognized as a national anthem because it actually is a very sad song but I guess the Stars Spangled Banner came from wars as well!