"I Was Only 19" (also known as "Only 19" or "A Walk in the Light Green") is a song by the Australian folk group Redgum.[1] The song was released in March 1983 as a single, which hit number one on the national Kent Music Report Singles Chart for two weeks.[2] It was also recorded for Redgum's live album Caught in the Act (Epic Records), released in June,[3] which stayed in the top 40 of the Kent Music Report Albums Chart for four months.[2] Royalties for the song go to the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia.[4] It is in the Australasian Performing Right Association's Top 30 Australian Songs of all time.[5][6] "I Was Only 19" became the most widely recognised song by the band.
Redgum's lead vocalist-guitarist, John Schumann, 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.[9][1][4] 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."[10][11]
For the live version, Schumann explained the title, "A Walk in the Light Green", as referring to operational patrols in areas marked light green on topographical maps, where dark green indicated thick jungle, plenty of cover and few land mines and light green indicated thinly wooded areas, little cover and a high likelihood of land mines.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "I Was Only 19" was ranked number 20.[12]
Impact
The Australian Vietnam Veterans' "Welcome Home Parade" was held in Sydney on 3 October 1987[13] and was followed by a concert in The Domain where Redgum's Schumann performed his song with veteran Frank Hunt on stage.[14] From this parade, a desire for a War Memorial to commemorate Vietnam Veterans grew into fruition with the Memorial's dedication in October 1992.[14]Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial was constructed in Anzac Parade, Canberra in 1992 and includes a "Wall of Words": "Stele B, the northern or right-hand stele, is adorned with a series of 33 quotations fixed in stainless steel lettering."[15] Amongst the quotations is:
Then someone called out "contact" and the bloke behind me swore,
and we hooked in there for hours, then a god-almighty roar.
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon.
A "normal language" explanation of each quote has been included, courtesy of the late Brigadier Alf Garland:
This is a quotation from the song 'I was only 19' by the Australian singing group "Red Gum" [sic]. It relates to a fire fight that had lasted for some hours when an explosion occurred. "Frankie", one of the soldiers had kicked (tripped) a landmine. In the song he died on the same day that the US put a man on the moon for the first time. Frankie was supposed to be returning home to Australia on completion of his tour in June of that year.[16][17][18]
At the 40th-year commemoration of the Battle of Long Tần, 18 August 2006, veterans were accompanied by Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddle at the Long Tan Cross; following the commemoration, a concert was held at Vũng Tàu where Schumann (and The Vagabond Crew) sang "I Was Only 19." He also introduced Long Tần veteran Storen as the source for the song.[19] For an SBS TV special Vietnam Nurses (2005), director Polly Watkins chose "Redgum and John Schumann's song 'Only Nineteen' during the Welcome Home Parade in 1987 because it is integral to one of the nurses' stories."[20] Frank Hunt provides an account of his Vietnam experiences, titled "I Was Only Nineteen", in Gina Lennox' book Forged by War (August 2006).[21]
After Schumann had received letters of request from active soldiers in Afghanistan and East Timor, he sought permission to visit the troops but obtained no answer.[22] A reporter published an article on the situation, and authorities gave permission for Schumann to tour East Timor in December 2009 and entertain Australian and New Zealand troops.[23][24] Between September and October 2011, he played for Australian troops in Afghanistan.[25]
Contact!: Military term indicating an encounter with the enemy. Will also contain direction of contact either contact left, contact right, contact front or contact rear.
Greens: Jungle Green Working Dress, the field uniform worn by the Australian Army between the early 1960s and 1989.
The Grand Hotel: A hotel in Vung Tau that had been converted for Army use.
Light green: parts on a map which indicated supposedly more dangerous areas for soldiers to patrol as there was little dense foliage and cover and an area which was more likely to be mined.
Sixth Battalion: (aka 6RAR) Australian army battalion, whose D Company had been involved in the Battle of Long Tan during a tour three years earlier.
Slouch hat: Parade head-dress for the Australian army.
SLR: Standard 7.62 mm semi-automatic rifle issued to Australian infantrymen during the Vietnam War.
Tinnies: Cans of beer.
Townsville: City in Queensland, home of the Australian Army's 3rd Brigade & RAAF Base Townsville. Also at the time the embarkation point for troops shipping to Vietnam from all around Australia, because it was the biggest port in Northern Australia.
VB: Victoria Bitter (beer). Was also used as a reference to one's comrades in arms, aka "Venerable Brethren." e.g.: "We made our tents a home VB with pin-ups on the lockers, and an Asian orange sunset through the scrub." (A reference to the defoliant, "Agent Orange" used prolifically in Vietnam).
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Covers and Parodies
When the song was first released, Rick Melbourne, a breakfast radio announcer, produced a parody version of the song, including the lyrics "God help me, she told me she was sixteen". Australian country singer John Williamson recorded a live version as "Only 19" and released it on his 1984 vinyl LP, The Smell of Gumleaves (rereleased in 1996 as a CD under the title Home Among the Gum Trees).[31]
The song's and album's producer, Trevor Lucas, performed his version as a member of his United Kingdom-based group Fairport Convention at the 1985 Cropredy Festival.[32] On the show Fast Forward, Gina Riley, in character as Eleanor LaGore, performed a swing version of the song.
The song was covered by Australian Army Band The Lancer Band in 2015 in the lead up to ANZAC Day. The cover gained positive widespread attention in the media. [1] It differed from most covers as it was performed by soldiers and sung by a female soldier.
After COVID-19 had hit Australia, several musicians created a parody of the song, realising the lyrical similarity of "I was only 19" and "It was COVID-19" as well as the shared macabre nature of both topics. Among the most prominent versions were Keir Nuttall's parody and a parody by an artist known as BOADZ.[35][36] Understandably, while the nature of the parodies got a polarising response, the dark humour did not sit well with Schumann, who contacted Nuttall with a request to take down the parody. Nuttall honoured Schumann's request. The BOADZ parody remains on Facebook, however.
"I explained that I was uncomfortable about the parody because first of all it's a sacred song, to Vietnam vets particularly, and other returned servicemen and women," Schumann said.
Single version "I Was Only 19" (March 1983) – 4:19
Only Schumann and McDonald of Redgum played on this track:[38]
John Schumann – lead vocals, guitar
Hugh McDonald – violin, vocals
Brian Czempinski – drums (later became a member of Redgum)
Trevor Lucas – backing vocals, producer
Peter Coughlan – bass guitar
Caught in the Act live version, "I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)" (1983) – 5:57
Schumann introduces the song and explains the phrase 'A Walk in the Light Green' which he gives as its title. Recorded at The Rose, Shamrock and Thistle Hotel (aka Three Weeds Hotel)[39] in Rozelle, New South Wales:[32]
Michael Atkinson – guitar, mandolin, piano, vocals
Hugh McDonald – violin, vocals
John Schumann – lead vocals, guitar
Verity Truman – flute, tin whistle, vocals
Trevor Lucas – producer
Jim Barton – engineer
2013 re-release
John Schumann released the song as an acoustic single on iTunes to commemorate 30 years since the song's original release. The single was the version recorded for the 2008 Vagabond Crew album Behind The Lines.[40]
^Schumann introduces the live version of the song with an explanation including "...it's about two mates of mine who went to Vietnam, came back Agent Orange victims...".
^Radio operator Private Frank Hunt did not step on the M21 mine on 21 July 1969, at Hoi My, South Vietnam, but was so seriously injured by the blast that he was repatriated to Australia. It is uncertain in what sense the songwriter had meant that he was going home in June, the month before.
