I Was Only Nineteen

Redgum: I Was Only Nineteen (1983)
Intro: Am C G D  
       Am G Am


Am              C             G           D              Am         
Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
              G             Am
It was a long march from cadets.
Am                          C                        G               D
The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card.
       Am             G               Am
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left. 

    E                                    D                   A     
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
     E                                D                    A
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.
    F#m              E                  D       A
And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
    E                       D
God help me, I was only nineteen. 


     Am               C                G           D
From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
         Am            G                Am
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
       Am               C            G             D
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
       Am           G                  Am
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub. 


    E                              D                  A
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
    E                                     D         A
And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
    F#m                   E                       D               A
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
    E                       D
God help me, I was only nineteen. 


  Am            C               G                    D               Am
A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs
         G              Am
It was a war within yourself.
        Am                C                   G              Am
But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off
       Am                   G                       Am
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else. 


     E                                     D               A
Then someone yelled out "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore
   E                                 D           A
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
F#m              E                 D                  A
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
    E                             D
God help me, he was going home in June. 

Solo: Am C G D 
      Am G Am

Am              C                 G              G
I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
     Am              G                 Am
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
    Am               C              G                D
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
        Am                G                 Am
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row. 


        E                            D                 A
And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
        E                              D                  A
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
  F#m                E               D             A
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
    E                       D
God help me, I was only nineteen. 


    E                            D                    A
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
    E                             D               A
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
    F#m                   E                       D               A    
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
    E                       D
God help me, I was only nineteen. 

Outro: Am C G D 
       Am G Am