John Schumann (Redgum) I Was Only 19 (REACTION) First Time Hearing It

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  • Опубликовано: 4 янв 2025

Комментарии • 70

  • @ray.shoesmith
    @ray.shoesmith Месяц назад +22

    To this day, the Vietnamese government allows only one foreign war memorial on Vietnamese soil. The Australian memorial at Long Tan. A battle where 108 Australians and 6 Kiwi artillery guns defeated 2,500 NVA...

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад +3

      I did not know about this. Thanks for taking the time to inform me about that. Always great to learn about history.

    • @ray.shoesmith
      @ray.shoesmith Месяц назад +1

      @@SaeedReacts. There's a video about the Battle of Long Tan by Martin Walsh on RUclips. Would love to see your reaction.

  • @madenabyss6981
    @madenabyss6981 Месяц назад +19

    This song always gets to me every time i hear it. Lest we forget 🇦🇺

  • @wadehines9971
    @wadehines9971 Месяц назад +16

    John was with the Australian Folk Music Band Redgum when he wrote the song. The featured performance used the Australian Army Band which is somewhat a testament to how deeply this song has been adopted across Australia.
    The song always deeply moves me as I lost a brother-in-law to Agent Orange. As I now put it, he was killed in Viet Nam but it took him 15 more years to die. That man taught me to laugh through pain. RIP Larry

    • @bob2shred894
      @bob2shred894 Месяц назад +1

      I'll raise my glass for Larry tonight!

  • @kazz3956
    @kazz3956 Месяц назад +7

    There are not many songs that are structured so well, and have unforgettable lyrics that give such a powerful description from a soldiers point of view. This song will remain a timeless reminder how we let these fine people down. My youngest is in their early 20’s, and his great Grandfather was already at war even before he reached the right age (he changed his name and age to sign up). I am saddened to say that I have lost many relatives in WWI and WWII. I have a few dear friends who went to Vietnam. Vietnam was the first conflict where conscription became the method of selection. Lest we forget.

  • @heatherwickstead7980
    @heatherwickstead7980 2 дня назад +1

    Just drove past Puckapunyal Army base yesterday. Out of Melbourne. Thanks for your reaction to this very special song and for playing the talk beforehand 💕👏

  • @mals4125
    @mals4125 2 дня назад +1

    John Schumann's 'Glass on the Bar' is a great song
    Another great artist and songwriter is Michael Waugh and his fantastic song 'Big Things'
    I'd recommend the live version on 'Michael Waugh Latrobe Performing Arts performance 2020' starting at the 16min 48 sec mark , although any version would be great.
    A couple of references that might need clarification.
    Rocketship - was climbing bars in the shape of a rocketship that was about 5 metres high, concreted into the ground and bloody dangerous. But any park in Oz built in in the 1960s to 70s seemed to have one.
    Big Things - Are large over size items set up as tourist stops for people traveling around. Some you could climb in or just part of a town or a stop. E.g. Big Pineapple, Big Banana, Big Gumboots, Big Bogan - there is about 230 scattered around the place and none are particularly impressive.
    SES (overalls) - State Emergency Service is a volunteer group in pretty much every town and council area in Australia that people help out the fulltime emergency service in times of need. e.g. flood, storms, lost bush walkers, etc
    I think you'll love the sentiment of a small town in this song.

  • @Dave-em3zq
    @Dave-em3zq Месяц назад +7

    Thanks Saeed for a respectful and understanding reaction. We could write a book on this. But if I may go in a little different direction. Every cent of the Artist Royalties went to the Vietnam Veterans Association
    (Now to their descendants I believe)
    Tha Australian War Memorial now hosts and interactive A/V display of this along with the written lyrics, their gold record and more recently John's guitar. He performed this with the late Hugh MacDonald in the Hall of Remembrance on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan ( a different battle). It brought tears to the eyes of the Memorials director (,who was the prime mover in not "glossing over" truth?) as well as the hundred odd surviving vets.
    Thanks for hearing me.

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад

      Thanks so much for taking the time to share this!

  • @valenciacuttriss4259
    @valenciacuttriss4259 Месяц назад +7

    My husband’s number was picked and he was 19 but he couldn’t go because he was in a car accident breaking his shoulder. I asked him if he felt lucky but he said.. No.. as he wanted to fight with his mates. Hearing this song made me realise how lucky he was and l get to have a husband without the emotional trauma these soldiers had.

  • @leelee2350
    @leelee2350 18 дней назад +5

    This song always moves me to tears.

  • @epoh8698
    @epoh8698 9 дней назад +1

    Grew up with this song for 45 years. Born way out west in queensland and all the rest. Can never make it through this song without tearing up bad.

  • @sopwithpuppy
    @sopwithpuppy Месяц назад +6

    The song is subtitled "a walk in the light green". "It's a song about two mates of mine who went to Vietnam, 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 where they'd be working in on the map and if it was dark green on the map, then 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. This is a song for Mick and Frankie. It's called "A walk in the light green". John Schumann (Redgum). A direct quote from a live version of this song I have.

  • @jenniferanderson1499
    @jenniferanderson1499 Месяц назад +6

    Hearing this song is as visceral now as the first time I heard it in 1983 and every time since. The tears and grief are for the thousands of boys sent by their government to fight a war they knew nothing about and that frankly had nothing to do with us - the product of "Reds under the beds" paranoia and the tinpot "Domino" theory. They returned home to be treated as pariahs despite having had no choice.
    The part that I Was Only 19 played in righting this wrong cannot be overstated.

    • @KerrieKruegner
      @KerrieKruegner Месяц назад

      And beyexperimented on by their “ally’s” with Agent Orange on top of the other misery’s of war@@jenniferanderson1499

    • @Dave-em3zq
      @Dave-em3zq Месяц назад +1

      Absolutely. The names, spittle all round hostility was appalling.
      Finally thanks to John ( not so much " we hate it and aren't going to record it" Redgum, they got their welcome home march and more.

  • @karentony3397
    @karentony3397 Месяц назад +5

    Thank you for your reaction to this song. Still brings tears to my eyes. So sad but true. Luv from Australia ❤️🎼❤️🎼❤️

  • @malcolmrayner3480
    @malcolmrayner3480 Месяц назад +6

    Eric Bogle wrote two great anti-war songs, "The band played waltzing Matilda" & "No Man's Land" (covered as "The green fields of France" by the Pooges and others) The first is about the Gallipoli Campaign

  • @deanakeefer1798
    @deanakeefer1798 Месяц назад +4

    I"m in tears.

  • @bazkeen
    @bazkeen Месяц назад +7

    This song always gets me 😢
    "Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon" always gets me 😞😞

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад +1

      That line stuck out to me as well

    • @kranknsports3829
      @kranknsports3829 Месяц назад

      @@SaeedReacts. year 29 july but he was going home in june

    • @stevegraham3817
      @stevegraham3817 Месяц назад

      @@kranknsports3829 Or he was supposed to go home in June and had his tour extended, or was it just poetic licence.?.

    • @daviddou1408
      @daviddou1408 Месяц назад

      @@stevegraham3817 Or to be more precise.
      6 RAR arrived in Vietnam on the 8th May 1969, the incident the song references occurred on the 21st July 1969 just over two months later. Therefore they had nearly 10 months of their tour to go, not extended. June was simply poetic licence to rhyme with moon.

    • @daviddou1408
      @daviddou1408 Месяц назад

      @@stevegraham3817 Yes, "Frankie" was 6 RAR and a real person Francis Hunt, a regular hence the "I was only 19", being 19 when he went to Vietnam. He was also severely wounded in the incident.
      Best not to perpetuate fallacies and come up with some irrelevant excuse for your lack of knowledge.

  • @jmrob1107
    @jmrob1107 Месяц назад +1

    I love this channel because I get to experience some great music that I was not familiar with. Meaningful!

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад

      Thanks so much for checking this out with me!

  • @alwynemcintyre2184
    @alwynemcintyre2184 18 дней назад

    There is a hip hop group in Australia called the herd that covered this song on a youth radio channel, it's on RUclips helped connect kids with the past. Should check it out and see what you think.😊

  • @beverleyjones4179
    @beverleyjones4179 Месяц назад +3

    Another great song is The band plays Waltzing Matilda.

  • @TheNotedHero
    @TheNotedHero Месяц назад +1

    Nice one Bob! Excellent recommendation!

  • @daleenengelbrecht4861
    @daleenengelbrecht4861 Месяц назад +1

    This is absolutely great. Was also diagnosed with PTSD after serving 20years in the Police Service.
    What makes me so so angry, why if someone suffers from PTSD, anxiety, depression ect you have a mental illness. But if you have pneumonia or a heart disease you suffer from that. To me it is stereotyping. It is a illness that you can live with, with medication on a regular basis just as people with cholesterol, high blood pressure and like me epilepsy. You can suffer from the worst and deadliest illnesses but O not a mental illness. It "tags" you differently. Sorry for the ranting. Tx Saeed for this channel. Appreciate you. Greetings from South Africa

  • @tonym7012
    @tonym7012 Месяц назад +1

    Also by Eric Bogle "No Man's Land (The Green Fields of France)"

  • @mudhutdestroyer1484
    @mudhutdestroyer1484 24 дня назад +1

    Channel 7 news chopper after Veitnam was an old huey they refurbished as a news chopper. Crazy line to me.

  • @DavidCalvert-mh9sy
    @DavidCalvert-mh9sy Месяц назад +2

    The backing band was compromised of serving Australian military. You need to react to 'The band played Waltzing Matilda'. Then you will begin to understand the very big heart of the Australian nation.

  • @katetoner3077
    @katetoner3077 28 дней назад

    I grew up in New Zealand and I have 3 brothers. I remember my mother listening to the radio for the birthdays of those to be conscripted. None of my brothers had to go thankfully.

  • @2eREPPARA
    @2eREPPARA Месяц назад +3

    Aussie combat vet
    And when I get to heavens gates to St Peter l’ll say “Legionnaire reporting in l’ve done my time in hell”🇦🇺🇺🇸

    • @bob2shred894
      @bob2shred894 Месяц назад

      Thank you

    • @2eREPPARA
      @2eREPPARA Месяц назад

      @@bob2shred894
      Aussie combat vet
      Please don’t thank me just being silly enough to run towards the gunfire doesn’t make me anything special

    • @bob2shred894
      @bob2shred894 Месяц назад

      @@2eREPPARA My dad was in Korea and my uncle was in Vietnam and some mates were in Iraq. I have seen side effects from running towards the gun. The least I can do is say thank you. You have a great day

  • @clive4949
    @clive4949 Месяц назад

    I turned 19 eleven months into my military service.
    Every male knew he would be doing National service as soon as he turned 18.
    5 months later you are deployed to a company for COIN operations.

  • @bob2shred894
    @bob2shred894 Месяц назад +2

    Not often does the pause button get a break. Lol this is a moving one for sure

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад

      Not that often indeed. Very moving indeed. Thanks for introducing me to it.
      I guess it is now morning where you are? Goodmorning and have a great day.
      I am watching an episode of Supernatural and going to sleep 😄

    • @bob2shred894
      @bob2shred894 Месяц назад

      @SaeedReacts. just having coffee and making the family lunches for today , then off to work. You have a good day

    • @bob2shred894
      @bob2shred894 Месяц назад

      ​@SaeedReacts. If you remember Urthboy from the "roll up your sleeves" like a version you reacted to? Well he is in a band called The Herd. They did a rap version of this for like a version many years ago. It's actually the first time I heard this song. They ended up recording it with John Schumann . It's worth a listen.
      ruclips.net/video/ns82tHhJOr0/видео.htmlsi=bol4qWy0PxxCAxjn

  • @neilt6480
    @neilt6480 Месяц назад

    I was lucky as. A change of government pulled Australia out just months before I turned 18. Otherwise I would have been facing the dreaded lottery - a ballot of dates where if your birthday came up you were drafted.
    The line "God help me, he was goin' home in June" doesn't make sense when you note that the moon landing was in July. Schumann has said that he used June because it rhymed, but I reckon it still works because lots of troops had their tour extended arbitrarily. I can't help but think of the ones that got wounded or worse when they should have been back home.
    Thanks for a heartfelt reaction. It still affects me every time after all these years. IMO, this is one of the great anti-war songs, along with Eric Bogle's "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda".

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад +1

      Wow, that is lucky indeed. Cant imagine having a big birthday coming up that also comes with massive anxiety.
      Thanks for sharing that and for some background on the song and writing. Much appreciated.

  • @kerrypattersonneewhiteside7807
    @kerrypattersonneewhiteside7807 18 дней назад

    So glad that when my brother's number came up he was rejected due to having asthma.

  • @mandarinlearner
    @mandarinlearner Месяц назад

    You need to see Billy Joel's song Goodnight Saigon, it does a good job explaining the Vietnam war from a soldier's point of view

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад +1

      I reacted to it. Great song and video.

  • @theubiquejim
    @theubiquejim Месяц назад

    check out the sogs of Fred Smith - aussie diplomat in Afghanistan - very powerful

  • @stevegraham3817
    @stevegraham3817 Месяц назад

    I prefer this version, it is a little less polished and a little less melodic, which adds to the subdued feelings.
    ruclips.net/video/mGDhzVi1bqU/видео.html
    When this song came out the Australian Public finally understood what these Veterans had been through.
    The Defence Forces take extraordinary people, turn them into extraordinary fighters, but don't return them to the pre-damaged state when the war has finished. When Vietnam War had finished there was no ticker tape parade, they were spat on by protestors at the docks as they climbed off the ships, just like the US Soldiers were.
    This song changed every Aussies attitude towards the Vietnam Vets and the sacrifices the armed forces make in general for the freedoms we think are just a given.
    We made amends for how they were treated when they hopped off the ships and planes 10 years earlier with a Welcome Home Parade in 1987. Many Veterans quality of life was improved from then on, and many government services were improved, which was about time.
    We (as a country) train ordinary people to be Extraordinary Soldiers, but we don't de-train them how to join society again.
    Here is the Wiki page that explains some of the slang and colloquialisms.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Was_Only_19
    Excerpt from Wiki.
    The song was released in July 1983, went to number one, and four years later 25,000 Vietnam veterans marched through the streets of Sydney in a belated welcome home parade.
    For the hundreds of thousands of Australians who bought the record, Schumann suspects it was a way of saying sorry. “I think I was only 19 provides an ‘I get it’ moment,” Schumann said. “Australians are fundamentally fair and decent, and I think I was only 19 was a story … that made us stop and think, ‘Oh, shit, we didn’t do the right thing by those blokes.’
    It gave us all a chance to look over the fence, and look into the backyards of the Vietnam veterans who lived next door or down the street.
    “I think we’ve learned to separate our position on the war and our position on the men and women who are sent to fight it. And I think that’s a very important distinction.”
    The actual lyrics:
    Mum and dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
    It was a 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 footpaths as we marched down to the quay
    This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean
    And there's me in me slouch hat with me 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
    And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups 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 M.16?
    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 can 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 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

  • @TheNotedHero
    @TheNotedHero Месяц назад +1

    If you haven't seen it, on the topic of war, I can't recommend the video "The Fallen of World War II" over on Neil Halloran's youtube channel. It's the best way I've seen the scale and human impact of WW2 ever depicted.

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  Месяц назад +2

      I have not yet. Will look it up.

  • @AOD_ALCO
    @AOD_ALCO 17 часов назад

    🇦🇺❤🇦🇺❤🇦🇺❤

  • @goannaj3243
    @goannaj3243 Месяц назад

    There is CC closed captions on this, glad you didn't use.
    The AI butchers it.

  • @loisrogers9042
    @loisrogers9042 Месяц назад

    😢

  • @ACDZ123
    @ACDZ123 22 дня назад

    Wrong version ..

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  22 дня назад

      This was a request from a subscriber. So what is wrong for one is right for the other and vice versa i would imagine 😃

    • @ACDZ123
      @ACDZ123 22 дня назад

      @SaeedReacts. yeah the original is the only version imo ..it's got a B/W clip with it

    • @SaeedReacts.
      @SaeedReacts.  22 дня назад +1

      @@ACDZ123 I definitely understand. Must check it out.

  • @Just-Incredible420
    @Just-Incredible420 16 дней назад

    ruclips.net/video/cnFzCmAyOp8/видео.htmlsi=jSnmxLOIFmuSjZuu
    G'day bud I believe ul enjoy this 1 aswell

  • @johnzepel3084
    @johnzepel3084 22 дня назад

    What's going on this does not sound like the one played on radio .the sound not right . What's that a bloody bango. It sound terrible .play the original version .without banjo & piano.

    • @rodneymcgiveron7494
      @rodneymcgiveron7494 21 день назад

      Rubbish... this is every bit as poignant as the original especially with John's preamble added..