I was a bit dubious about the original posts from Alpha and then the lyrics he posted have been puzzling over it.  I always remember Rolf Harris singing Waltzing Matilda, and it was nothing to do with Gallipoli, more to do with bush men. 

So here is a site all about it.

http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/waltzingmatilda/1-Origins.html 

The lyrics that Alpha has posted.............. well where did he get them from??? Alpha own up!

The song Alpha posted is not a version of ´Waltzing Matilda´ - it´s a song dedicated to the Australian soldiers who died at Gallipoli that contains the lines ´and the band played Waltzing Matilda´ - and Alpha gave the link to the song in his original post.

Another to link to another version of the same song is below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI

The lyrics is from a song called "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", performed by Liam Clancy of the Aussie band named "Clancy Brothers". It can easily be found in YouTube.

My Aussie friends tell me it is a very popular ballad in Australia; so popular that some Aussies  would like to see it replace their existing national anthem.

It is extremely stupid, even,  to suggest that I may have faked it.  An apology will be in order.

Sorry Alpha - I posted mine before yours but had to edit it because the text came out so small. 

The reason this ballad is so popular in Australia is probably because it reminds them of old days when the Brits found it easier to treat Aussies, Kiwis and like as old "matilda"s.

Aussies and Kiwis are proud, independent and sovereign nations now and I hope they are much wiser. Many Western sources write that the awakening of this feeling of national identity in both nations  follow their experiences in Gallipoli and is largely derived from the lessons they learned there.

 You need not apologize. What you wrote  was probably correct...

 Hmmm....just exactly how independant are they?  Isn´t Elizabeth II still Queen of Australia?

 If you ask her, she is the Queen of America as well....

 No, I was a little confused - thanks, that has squared things up for me!  I couldn´t see the other link, same as you, so I assumed it was a version of Waltzing Matilda

´Waltzing Matilda´ was the well known song a lot of Australians wanted as their national anthem years ago, not the anti-war ballad ´The band played watzing matilda´.  This was when we wanted to replace the British ´God save our Queen´ with our own new anthem.

Most Australians recognize the futility of war, and many thousands visit Turkey, and the Gallipoli area each year to pay their respects. They can then understand better the geography and the history of this disasterous World War 1 battle. Many Australians also learn for the first time about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his exploits, after visiting the battlefields.

In an unusual way, this common history has brought about a stronger relationship between Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.