I Was Only 19

	  		 
  

A 

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


     E                                   D                    A 
And Townsville lined the footpath 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 


     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 


     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 


   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 you thought about something else 


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


Interlude: 
A - C - G - D - A - G - A (2x) 


A                C                  G               D 
1 can still see Frankie, drinking 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 
'Till 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 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 
     E                       
God help me, I was only nineteen