About this song
- John Schumann, the lead singer-guitarist of Redgum, wrote this song based on conversations he had with Australian Army veterans of the Vietnam War. The song reflects the experience of a young Australian man as he joins the Army, serves in Vietnam and after his return to Australia. Contrary to the popular idea that the man in the story is a conscript, he volunteers for service in Vietnam. Due to his age of 19, he is not eligible to be conscripted as Australian men did not become elegible for conscription until they reached adulthood, which at the time, was 21. The song has become the most widely recognized song by Redgum and it hit the Number One spot on the Australia-wide Kent Music Report for two weeks after its release in March 1983, (the Kent Music Report was a weekly chart of Australian music that ran from 1974 until 1988). It also achieved a place in the Top 30 Australian Songs of all time. The song has been titled as "A Walk in the Light Green" when performed live and Schumann explained that this was a reference to Australian military maps of Vietnam where dark green areas on the map indicated jungle/thick forest and light green areas indicated light forest. The significance of this becomes apparent when it's understood that jungle/thick forest meant plenty of cover from enemy fire and few land mines while the light forests provided minimal protection from enemy fire and a much greater risk of encountering land mines. A "walk in the light green" carried far greater risk of being killed or injured. Part of the reason for the songs success was due to the use of powerful evocative lyrics such as "And night time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?" and "A four week operation where each step could mean your last one on two legs". While there were a number of songs about the Vietnam War experience by American singers, "I Was Only 19" is one of the very few Australian songs about the war and while it was not the first, it was the first that specifically identified itself with the Australian experience in that conflict*. * Khe Sanh by Australian group Cold Chisel, is generally recognized as the first Australian song about the Vietnam War . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply. — lastfm
- "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. 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. It was also recorded for Redgum's live album Caught in the Act (Epic Records), released in June, which stayed in the top 40 of the Kent Music Report Albums Chart for four months. — wikipedia
Chart history
Peak position and weeks on chart across Australian community countdowns.
| Chart | Peak | Most recent | Weeks on |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Australian Artist Singles | #14 | 2020-05-04 (#14) | 3 |
