And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda the younger generation becomes apathetic to the veterans and their cause. At its conclusion, the song incorporates the melody and a few lines of lyrics of the 1895 song "Waltzing Matilda" by Australian poet Banjo Paterson. Many cover versions of the song have been performed and recorded, as well as many versions in foreign languages. The song is an account of the memories of an old Australian man who, as a youngster had travelled across rural Australia with a swag (the so-called Matilda of the title) and tent. In 1915 he had joined the Australian armed forces and been sent
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda to Gallipoli. For "ten weary weeks", he kept himself alive as "around [him] the corpses piled higher". Eventually he is wounded by a shellburst and awakens in hospital to find that both his legs have been amputated. When the ship carrying the young soldiers departs from Australia the band plays "Waltzing Matilda" while crowds wave flags and cheer. When the crippled narrator returns and "the legless, the armless, the blind, the insane" are carried down the gangway to the same popular music, the people watch in silence and turn their faces away. Interviewed by "The Sydney Morning Herald" in 2002,