Stu News and Photos

In 1963, Frank Zappa was hanging out at his friend's recording studio. The friend was Paul Buff, and Paul was making a decent living recording local bands. At one point, Paul wrote an instrumental, called Tijuana Surf, and asked Frank to come up with a b-side. "Grunion Run" was born, stamped on the flip-side of "Tijuana Surf," and exported to Mexico, where it became a hit record. For about 17 weeks, "Tijuana Surf" held the #1 spot on the charts, and Frank earned a small amount of pride and recognition for having the b-side. This was, for Frank, one of those moments.

Check out Frank on the solo. Pretty badass for 1963.

Whassa matta, Sam? You can't play in Italian?

(and, for those who are curious, that's Keely Smith, and yes, she always looks like that. It was part of the act.)

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those who were living did there best to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, Christ, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush is so far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The legless, the armless, the blind, and insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla

And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then they turned their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving that dreams of past glory

I see the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask me, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me