I Was Only 19

A

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


     E                                   D                    A
And Townsville lined the footpath 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


     A                  C             G         D
From Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat
          A               G              A
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months
       A                 C                G             D
And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups on the lockers
        A              G                A
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 M.16?
    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


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


          E                                   D                 A
And then someone yelled out Contact, and the bloke behind me swore
    E                                 D             A
We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty 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


Interlude:
A - C - G - D - A - G - A (2x)


A                C                  G               D
1 can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
        A               G               A
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
A                    C               G                  D
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
           A                   G               A
'Till 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 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
     E
God help me, I was only nineteen