I Was Only Nineteen

| A  C  | G  D  | A  G  | A     |


[Verse 1]

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


[Chorus 1]

    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 me slouch hat 
      D       A
with me SLR and greens.
    E              E F#m E   D
God help me, I was only  nineteen.


[Verse 2]

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


Continues after the ad
[Chorus 2]

    E                              
And can you tell me, doctor, why I 
D                      A
still can't get to sleep?
    E                              
And night time's just a jungle dark
       D          A
 and a barking M.16?
    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.


[Verse 3]

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


[Chorus 3]

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


[Interlude]

| A  C  | G  D  | A  G  | A     |


[Verse 4]

    A                   C  
And I can still see Frankie, 
           G              D
drinkin' tinnies in the Grand Hotel
     A               G            
on a thirty-six hour rec. leave in
      A
 Vung Tau.
    A                C            
And I can still hear Frankie, 
  G                D
lying screaming in the jungle,
         A                 G      
'til the morphine came and killed 
            A
the bloody row.


[Chorus 4]

        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              E F#m E   D
God help me, I was only  nineteen.


[Chorus 5]

    E                              
And can you tell me, doctor, why I 
D                      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 nineteen.