I Was Only 19 (1983) – Redgum

I Was Only 19 is a testimony about the plight of an Australian soldier in the Vietnam War, and it sits as a kind of sister song to Khe Sanh by Cold Chisel. Khe Sanh is the more upbeat, melodic and vibrant of the two, where you can feel the camaraderie and patriotism in its delivery. I recalled in that respective post how, from the military academy, at almost every pub we hit while on leave, we’d chant Khe Sanh at the top of our lungs, parading in a circle with our arms around each other’s shoulders.

I Was Only 19, on the other hand, is a lot more stark and solemn. Here, in this narrative, the soldier is alone – alone, alone. As a listener, you feel his hopelessness and solitude, and as the song progresses you hear how his innocence is stripped away through his harrowing ordeal. It stunned me the first time I heard it – such a powerful piece of songwriting craftsmanship.

I Was Only 19 feels almost more like spoken testimony than a traditional song. The first-person narrative is highly specific, naming places, training routines, and weapons. It also uses very colloquial Australian language. As a born-and-bred Australian, and someone from a military background, I found many of the references familiar and affecting. This includes the SLR rifle mentioned in the song, which we kept in our quarters during the early part of our training years, before it was later replaced in the Australian Army by the Steyr AUG. He also mentions VB (Victoria Bitter), one of Australia’s most well-known beers, which, as it happens, I too drank well beyond what would be deemed healthy.

At its core, I Was Only 19 is a bare-bones, “warts and all” account of war. It even extends to life after service, with the narrator describing post-war health issues to a doctor, including a rash that comes and goes, alongside deeper psychological scars. It is an unfiltered and chilling historical account, one that arguably belongs as much in a national war museum as it does on a record. In fact royalties for the song go to the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia.

The song strips away the myths of war – the showmanship, bravado, and macho posturing – and leaves us with the portrait of a single man, permanently changed, carrying lasting physical and mental trauma.

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The following was abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

I Was Only 19 was released in March 1983 as a single, which hit number one on the Australian charts for two weeks. It became the most widely recognised song by the band.

The context is the return of Vietnam vets to a sometimes hostile reception in Australia, what John Schumann (lead vocalist – guitarist) perceived as soldiers returning to Australia from a “war that nobody wanted to honour [their] service in”. Schumann wrote the song from a sense of injustice at this.

He wrote the song based on experiences he heard from veterans, particularly Mick Storen (his brother in-law) and Frankie Hunt. The mine experiences in the story pertain to an incident during Operation Mundingburra on 21 July 1969 of which Storen experienced. Schumann has said that “the power derives from the detail, provided by my mate and brother-in-law, Mick Storen, who was brave and trusting enough to share his story with me.”

[Verse 1]
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 and Shoalwater before we left

[Chorus]
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 me slouch hat, with me SLR and greens
God help me
I was only nineteen

[Verse 2]
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 pinups on the lockers
And an Agent Orange sunset through the scrub

[Chorus]
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still 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 nineteen

[Verse 3]
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 somethin’ else

[Verse 4]
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 going home in June

[Verse 5]
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 lying screaming in the jungle
‘Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row

[Verse 6]
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

[Chorus]
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

References:
1. I Was Only 19 – Wikipedia