Waltzing Matilda nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and were first published as sheet music in 1903. Extensive folklore surrounds the song and the process of its creation, to the extent that it has its own museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, in the Queensland outback, where Paterson wrote the lyrics. In 2012, to remind Australians of the song's significance, Winton organised the inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day to be held on 6 April, the anniversary of its first performance. The song was first recorded
Matilda (song) the song in 1962 as "Twistin Matilda, (And the Channel)", which changed the lyrics of the verses as well as the chorus to: "She took the money and ran off to Las Vegas." The song hit number 22 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Charts. Allan Sherman recorded a variation of the song in his first album, 1962's "My Son, the Folk Singer", and put a Jewish-sounding spin on it, including asking portions of his audience (such as "Members of Hadassah") to sing along: Sherman got sued from the estates of the writer of the song, for not asking permission beforehand,