Key: A
Introduction:
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
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