I Was Only 19 chords by Julia Stone

! CAPO 1 !

A

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


Interlude:
A - C - G - D - A - G - A (2x)


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