Kiwi wiki | Songs / A walk in the light green (I was only nineteen)

Try A Little Kindness < Songs > Wanted Man

By: John Schumann, 1983^[1]

Performed: Red Gum^[2]

A song about two mates of the author, Mick and Frankie, who went to Vietnam and came back agent orange victims. The title "A Walk in the Light Green" stems from the fact that when the Australian soldiers in Vietnam were given their missions they looked at the areas that they'd be working in on the map and if it was dark green on the map there was cause for some consolation because dark green meant thick jungle, lots of cover, and there were no mines. If they were working in areas that were light green on the map that meant light jungle, not much cover and heaps of mines.

	A C G D A G A A

	A	C	G	D	A	G	A
	Mum and Dad and	Denny saw the	passing out pa	rade at Pucka	punyal, it was a	long march from ca	dets

	A	C	G	D
The	sixth battalion was the	next to tour and it was	me who drew the	card

	A	G	A	A
We did Canu	ngra, Shoal	water before we	left

	E	E	D	A
And	Townsville lined the	footpaths as we	marched down to the	quay

	E	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 me	SLR and	greens

	E	E	E	F#m	D	D
God	help me	,	I was	only nine	teen

	A	C	G	D	A	G	A
	From Vung Tau riding	chinooks to the	dust at Nui	Dat, I'd been	in and out of	choppers now for	months

	A	C	G	D
And we	made our tents a	home, VB and	pinups on the	lockers

	A	G	A	A
And an	Asian orange	sunset though the	scrub

	E	E	D	A
And	can you tell me	doctor why I	still can't get to	sleep

	E	E	D	A
And	night times just a	jungle dark and a	barking	M16

	F#m	E	D	A
And	whats this rash that	comes and goes can you	tell me what it	means

	E	E	E	F#m	D	D
God	help me	,	I was	only nine	teen

	A	C	G	D	A	G	A
	A four week oper	ation when each	step could mean your	last one on two	legs; it was a	war within your	self

	A	C	G	D
But you	wouldn't let your	mates down till they	had you dusted	off

	A	G	A	A
So you	closed your eyes and	thought about something	else

	E	E	D	A
And then	someone yelled out	"contact" and the	bloke behind me	swore

	E	E	D	A
We	hooked in there for	hours then a	god almighty	roar

	F#m	E	D	A
And	Frankie kicked a	mine the day that	mankind kicked the	moon

	E	E	E	F#m	D	D
God	help me	,	he was	going home in	June

	A C G D A G A A

	A	C	G	D	A	C	A
	I can still see	Frankie drinking	tinnies in the	Grand Hotel on a	thirty six hour	rec leave in Vung	Tau

	A	C	G	D
And	I can still see	Frankie lying	screaming in the	jungle

	A	G	A
Till the	morphine came and	killed the bloody	row

	E	E	D	A
And the	Anzac legends	didn't mention	mud and blood and	tears

	E	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	E	E	F#m	D	D
God	help me	,	I was	only nine	teen

	E	E	D	A
And	can you tell me	doctor why I	still can't get to	sleep

	E	E	D	A
And	why the channel	seven chopper	chills me to my	feet

	F#m	E	D	A
And	whats this rash that	comes and goes can you	tell me what it	means

	E	E	E	F#m	D	D
God	help me	,	I was	only nine	teen

	D D D A C G D A G A

Glossary
Puckapunyal	was a recruit training center^[3]
Canungra	a Jungle Warfare training center^[4]
Shoalwater	used for Military exercises
Townsville	city in Queensland and major Army Barracks
SLR	7.62mm Self Loading Rifle - standard Army weapon of the era
greens	Jungle green uniform
Vung Tau & Nui Dat	were Aussie bases in Vietnam.
V.B.	Victoria Bitter - an Australian brand of beer
tinnies	Cans of beer
rec leave	recreation leave
Anzac	Australia New Zealand Army Corps
Channel Seven	An Australian Television Network

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A walk in the light green (I was only nineteen)