When folk band Redgum frontman John Schumann penned the classic, “I was only 19 (A walk in the light green)” in 1983, he was writing it for the soldiers who upon returning home, felt disconnected from civilian life and alienated by the government. This song, written from the perspective of a soldier returned from the Vietnam War, has now been added to “Sounds of Australia”, a collection of historically, culturally and aesthetically significant sounds established by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

Schumann drew inspiration for the song from his brother-in-law, who served in Vietnam and was a member of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association of Australia. Schumann himself narrowly missed being drafted, and his mates who were drafted had come back with various problems brought on by wartime experiences.

The song details confrontations with both the opposition and the demons within a soldier’s mind. The refrain asks why “night time is a jungle dark and a barking M16” and “the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet.” With these lyrics, Schumann puts into words flashbacks and anxiety caused by trauma -- a condition we now know as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

“Much has been said about ‘[I was only] 19’. That it helped bring our Vietnam veterans home. That it precipitated a Royal Commission. That it changed forever the way we Australians think about the men and women we send to fight our wars,” Schumann said. “These things are for others to say, not me. For me, ‘I Was Only 19’ has been an amazing gift, and I’m delighted that it has been identified as one of the Sounds of Australia. It’s a great honour.”

Since its inception in 2007, “Sounds of Australia” has included a recording of an Australian soldier on his way to World War 1, songs by other Australian artists Hilltop Hoods and Hoodoo Gurus, and a collection of Indigenous music and songs recorded in Western Australia in 1959. “Sounds of Australia” aims to recognise the contribution of recorded sounds to Australia’s constantly evolving national identity.

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