I Was Only 19 chords by Redgum

Chords with lyrics

G+G

Intro: A minorAm C majorC G+G D MajorD A minorAm G+G A minorAm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  E MajorE              D MajorD          A augmentedA
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
  E MajorE               D MajorD        A augmentedA
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
  F# minorF#m          E MajorE            D MajorD        A augmentedA
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
  E MajorE            D MajorD