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
Hay and Hell and Booligal Hay and Hell and Booligal Hay and Hell and Booligal is a poem by the Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson. Paterson wrote the poem while working as a solicitor with the firm of Street & Paterson in Sydney. It was first published in "The Bulletin" on 25 April 1896. The poem was later included in Paterson's collection "Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses", first published in 1902. The poem is about the western Riverina town of Booligal; then and now a remote, isolated locality. It compares Booligal unfavourably with the nearby town of Hay and even Hell, recounting a