Intro: Am C G D | Am G Am  
   
 Am              C             G           D              Am         
 Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal 
               G             Am
 It was a long march from cadets. 
 Am                          C             
 The sixth battalion was the next to tour, 
           G               D
 and it was me who drew the card. 
        Am             G               Am
 We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.  
 
     E                                    D                   A     
 And Townsville lined the footpaths 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.  
 
      Am               C                G           D
 From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat 
          Am            G                Am
 I'd been in and out of choppers now for months. 
        Am               C            G             D
 But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers 
        Am           G                  Am
 And an agent orange sunset through the scrub.  
 
Hook: 
     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 M16? 
     F#m                   E               
 And what's this rash that comes and goes, 
        D               A
 can you tell me what it means? 
     E                       D
 God help me, I was only nineteen.  
 
   Am            C               G               
 А four week operation when each step could mean 
     D               Am
 your last one on two legs 
          G              Am
 It was a war within yourself. 
         Am                C                   G              D
 But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off 
        Am                   G                       Am
 So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.  
 
      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 Godalmighty 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.  
 
 Solo: Am C G D | Am G Am  
 
 Am              C                 G              D
 I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel 
      Am              G                 Am
 On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau 
     Am               C              G                D
 And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle 
         Am                G                 Am
 Til 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 the 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.  
 
Hook: 
     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               
 And what's this rash that comes and goes, 
        D               A    
 can you tell me what it means? 
     E                       D
 God help me, I was only nineteen.  
 
Outro: Am C G D | Am G Am

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