"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..."

Written by John Schumann, the lead singer & guitarist for folk group Redgum, this song released in 1983 pieces together moving real life stories and experiences told by veterans - particularly Schumann's brother in-law Mick Storen and veteran Frankie Hunt. Schumann was lucky that his number never came up, but he never forgot how close he came when he saw the struggles of those who returned from war - "They were fundamentally altered," he said. Around some beers, photographs, and a tape recorder, Storen agreed to tell Schumann his story.

Schumann and Storen had a deal - no one else would hear the song without Storen's approval. When Schumann pulled out his guitar and started to sing the song at an intimate family gathering, the room fell silent.

"He looked at me," Schumann said in an interview with the ABC's Radio National last year, "he didn't say anything. He just stared at me."

When he was able to speak, he gave the song his wholehearted blessing - "It was just incredible", Schumann said. Storen did have one gripe however, read about that here.

It's a powerful song that still holds weight all these years after it was first in the Australian charts, in fact it's been covered a number of times by a variety of artists - from hip hop group The Herd (which made it into the top 20 of 2005's Triple J Hottest 100), to John Williamson, to Lee Kernaghan.

"Very few Australian songwriters get to write anything that's had the lasting effect of I was only 19," Schumann said 

"But it's a great responsibility. You know in all the important ways it's owned by the people about whom I wrote it.

- RB