Roaring Jack - The Swaggies Have All Waltzed Matilda Away lyrics

You came to this country in fetters and chains Outlaws and rebels with numbers for names And on the triangle were beaten and maimed Blood stained the soil of Australia Dookies and duchesses, flash lads and sleepers You worked their plantations and polished their floors Lived in their shadow and died in their wars Blood stained the soil of Australia Does it quicken your heart beat To see tar and concrete Cover the tracks of the old bullock dray Have you grown so heartless To christen it progress When the swaggies have all waltzed Matilda away Driven like dogs from your own native home Hardship and poverty caused you to roam Over the bracken and over the foam Blood stained the soil of Australia Then in the fervour for fortune and fame You caused the poor Blacks to suffer the same Imprisoned on missions or hunted for game Blood stained the soil of Australia It's two-hundred years since you came to this land Betrayed by the girl with the black velvet band And still to this day you don't understand Blood stained the soil of Australia Koori and White, old Australian and new Brothers and sisters of every hue The future is ours, take the wealth from the few And raise the red flag in Australia Let it quicken your heart beat The roads at your own feet Travel it lightly and travel it well And don't speak of success Or christen it progress Till the swaggies can all waltz Matilda as well