Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at ____
It was a long ____ from cadets
The sixth battalion was the next to ____, and it was me who drew the card
We did Canungra and ____ before we left
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the ____
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and ____
And there's me in me slouch hat with me SLR and ____
...
From Vũng Tàu riding Chinooks to the dust at ____
I'd been in and out of ____ now for months
And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups on the ____
And an Asian orange sunset through the ____
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to ____?
And nighttime's just a jungle dark and a barking ____?
And what's this rash that comes and ____
Can you tell me what it ____?
God help me
I was only 19
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
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 goin' home in June
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
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 19
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to ____?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my ____?
And what's this rash that comes and goes
Can you tell me what it means?
God help me
I was only 19
...
