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 he was surprised to be asked to perform at a local folk club on the strength of the song. Bogle was born in Peebles, Scotland, in 1944; "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" was his first anti-war, which he composed after movng to Australia in 1969, and seeing his first Anzac Day march, while working as an accountant in Canberra in 1971. "The Vietnam War was still going on at the time, so there were lots of protests going on and it wasn’t nearly as well covered and as well attended and well regarded as it is today," he said.