I Was Only 19 chords by Redgum

G

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 agent orange sunset through the scrub

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       D
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

Am       C         G       D
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