I Was Only Nineteen

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal

It was a long march from cadets

The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card

We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay

This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean

And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens

God help me, I was only nineteen

From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat

I'd been in and out of choppers now for months

But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers

And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub

And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil can't get to sleep?

And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?

And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?

God help me, I was only ninteen

A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs

It was a war within yourself

But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off

So you closed your eyes and thought about something else

Then someone yelled out "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore

We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar

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

I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel

On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau

And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle

Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears

And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real

I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel

God help me, I was only nineteen

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?

And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?

And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?

God help me, I was only nineteen