I Was Only Nineteen

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


[Verse 1]

A                 C             G             D            A
  Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal.
                    G              A
(It was a 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.


[Chorus 1]

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


[Verse 2]

     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.


[Chorus 2]

    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.


[Verse 3]

  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 thought about somethin' else.


[Chorus 3]

         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
And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon.
    E                                  D
God help me, he was going home in June.


[Interlude]

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[Verse 4]

    A                   C             G              D
And I can still see Frankie, drinkin' 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
'til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.


[Chorus 4]

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


[Chorus 5]

    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.