Karaoké I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) Redgum

Mum and Dad and Danny saw the passin' 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 and Shoalwater before we left

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

This clippin' from the paper shows us young and strong and clean

And there's me in me slouch hat with me 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

And we made our tents a home

V.B. and pin-ups on the lockers

And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub

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

And night time's just a jungle dark and a barkin' M-Sixteen

And what's this rash that comes and goes

Can you tell me what it means

God help me

I was only nineteen

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

It was a war within yourself

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

So you closed your eyes and thought about somethin' else

And then someone yelled out Contact and the bloke behind me swore

We hooked in there for hours then a God almighty roar

And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon

God help me

He was goin' home in June

And I can still see Frankie drinkin' tinnies in the Grand Hotel

On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau

And I can still hear Frankie lyin', screamin' in the jungle 'till 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