I am only 19...

April 6, 2006 at 12:48 PM

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.

A part of the Redgum classic "I was only 19"

Aussie Hip-hop band The Herd have recently covered this song, and is getting massive airtime on Australia's youth radio network, Triple J. I've heard it many times before, as I always listen to Triple J when I'm in the car, which seems to be fairly often these days.
But today when driving home, it kinda struck something deep within me, and I have no idea why.

I've thought about this song a lot, and think it's a great message in it. In Australia, there's the ANZAC legend, the story of the ANZAC's at Gallipoli (where we got slaugtered because the english gave us incorrect co-ordinates), about the heroic deeds that were done there. But it doesn't mention the thousands killed, it doesn't mention the atrocities that occured in Vietnam (which is where most of the focus is on in I was only 19).

I think the reason it struck such a chord with me is that I'm 19 (if only for a few more days), and thinking back over the year that I've had, I can't imagine what it would've been like had I been conscripted to go and fight in a war somewhere. I can't imagine what it would be like, the intense noise, the chance of injury or death, or major psychological damage upon return.

For me in my life, it has hardly begun. I haven't even finished Uni, and I want to study more. To have that all taken away because of a war is... dreadful.

And as I was driving home, coming near to where my parents live (as I'm house-sitting a few suburbs north from there), I was just so happy that I have a lovely family, a great group of friends, and that I am able to do what I love. I thanked God that I'm healthy, that I'm safe, and that I'm free.

So I ask, or remind you, to think about all the wonderful things we have in our lives - Family, friends, music. These are joys that sometimes we don't think about enough, don't remind ourselves how important they are, and how lucky we are to have them.

And I ask you to think about all those places in the world that are in conflict at the moment - Iraq, Afganistan, Sierra Leone, Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, Indonesia and West Papua. Think about all those places where poverty is rife, and people are unable to do what they love. Where disease takes away their family and places unwanted burdens on children too young to have them.
I don't know what we can do about them, but I pray that one day everyone can have what I have.

I am only 19...

(You can find the lyrics of I was only 19 Here or listen to a Podcast about The Herd's cover of it (plus other info about the song) by Triple J's Hack Current Affairs Program)

From Samantha H
Posted on April 6, 2006 at 1:21 PM

Very well said. Thank you very much for making me think about all of the wonderful things in my life, and how fortunate I am to have them all.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on April 7, 2006 at 8:36 AM

That was very beautiful and very powerful, Ben. Thank you.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on April 7, 2006 at 8:52 AM

Thanks also for the link to the lyrics. I was not familiar with that song, and it certainly is powerful. It reminds me of some other hard hitting songs by Eric Bogle, a Scotsman who emigrated to Australia, about the horrors of war: William McBride, aka, No Man's Land (http://www.aftermathww1.com/mcbride.asp), and And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda (http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5817). These songs are almost too painful for me to listen to. There is a similar song that I've heard and played, but I can't place it now. It's a song about the many, many Australian troops who died in WWI. The song is called something like Drums of Manon. If anyone can find it for me, I'd appreciate it.

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I am only 19...

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