I Was Only Nineteen Uke tab by Redgum

Intro: A, C, G, D, A, G, A.
A      C    G      D         A
Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
G       A
(1t 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       GA
We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left.


Chorus I:
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          CG              D
From Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat,
A         GA
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
A C  GD
But we made our tents a home. V.B. and pinups on the lockers,
A         GA
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.


Chorus 2:
E      D                    A
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
ED      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 thought about something else.


Chorus 3:
E        D                       A
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


Chorus 4:
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.