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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
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