a small offering.

[katster]

Seen all over LJ, but most notably zibblsnrt

When you see this, post an anti-war song in your journal.

I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)
Redgum

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal,
(It was 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.

And Townsville lined the footpath 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 nineteen.

From Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat,
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pin-ups on the lockers,
and an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

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.

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 something else.

Then someone yelled out "Contact"', 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.

I can still see Frankie, drinking 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.
'Till the morphine came and killed the bloody row

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears,
and 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.

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.

(It's said that this song is what got Australians to remember and recognize its own Vietnam vets. I just fell in love with the song from the moment I heard it, because even those who come back will be damaged by the experience. There is no such thing as an easy war. The song is here if you'd like to hear it.)

Comments

[damienps.livejournal.com]

Redgum has a lot of great songs

[katster.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I imported their Greatest Hits CD on the strength of a 64kbps mp3 of the song posted here, and I haven't regretted doing it. :)

(Besides getting mail from Australia, it's also really good music.) :)

-kat

[damienps.livejournal.com]

I got Caught in the Act CD off ebay .au

OK, I'm going to get really geeky here...

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Good song, but these lines caught my eye:

Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon: -
God help me, he was going home in June.

We landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. If Frankie was going home in June, he was a FNG and the line doesn't make much sense.

I know, I know, shut up Spock... :)

Re: OK, I'm going to get really geeky here...

[katster.livejournal.com]

Oh, I knew that. I suspect the line was written for the rhyme without thinking about when the moonshot actually was. (It'd probably work turned around, as in something like "we just got here in june", or trying to find another rhyme, but I can see where the mistake cropped in.)

Yeah, it's a minor jarring note for me, too (I'm somewhat anal about continuity unless you've said out front you're purposely gonna fsck with it) but the rest of the song is well-done and makes a good point, so I'll forgive them the continuity error made in the sake of rhyme.

-kat

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