作词 : John Schumann
作曲 : John Schumann
Mum and Dad dan Denny
Saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets
And the 6th 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 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 19
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 VB and pin-ups on the lockers
And an agent orange sunset through the scrub
And can you tell me doctor why I still can't get to sleep?
And nighttime'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 19.
On 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,
Till they had you dusted off.
So you closed your eyes and you thought about something else
And then someone yelled out"Contact front!"
And the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours
Then a God almighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon
God help me
He was going home in June
And I can still see Frankie
Drinking tinnies in the Grand hotel
On a 36-hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie
Lying screaming 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 19
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 19