I Was Only 19

[Intro] Am  C  G  D
        Am  G  Am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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