Daisy Chapman - Tom Traubert’s Blues (Waltzing Matilda) by Tom Waits

In May 2016 we named our new baby girl Matilda, something we’d both agreed on but not given much thought to. When she was 3 days old I was suddenly reminded of this song and recalled how it was one of my Dad’s favourites (albeit, the Rod Stewart version!). This had had no influence on our choice of name as the memory only came to me as we made the short pilgramage home from the hospital with our precious cargo strapped in the back. As the weeks of new motherhood progressed, I finally found time to sit at the piano and it was one of the first songs I played to my sweet daughter. When Matilda was 7 weeks old I played the song with Sue at a small private garden gig attended by just a few friends and my parents. I could see my husband waltzing Matilda around the kitchen trying to get her to sleep, and choked back a lump in my throat whilst performing as I was overwhelmed with my new found love. Afterwards, my Dad, brimming with tears, congratulated and thanked me for the version. I could feel his love for his new