Dark_Havoc’s Reading Log

I Was Only Nineteen ~ Redgum

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, 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 my slouch hat with my 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.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil can’t get to sleep?
And night-time’s just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only ninteen.

A four week operation when each step could 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 something else.

Then someone yelled out “Contact!” and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.

I can still see Frankie, drinking 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. Forgrounded

My Meaning

This song to me is a ’story’ about how Australian men fell and lost their lives in a country, fighting someone else’s war. It also mentions about the use of agent orange and how it affected not just the scrub, but the men that walked through the jungle, on both sides. Redgum have also touched on how war is a horrendous creation and can come back to haunt you, even years after the war has finished

~Dark_Havoc~

The Living Years ~ Mike & The Mechanics

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I’m a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I’m a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thoughts
Stilted conversations
I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got

You say you just don’t see it
He says it’s perfect sense
You just can’t get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talkin’ in defense

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye  

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It’s the bitterness that lasts  

So Don’t yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different date
And if you don’t give up, and don’t give in
You may just be O.K.

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

 I wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to say

 I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I’m sure I heard his echo
In my baby’s new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

Say it loud, say it clear
Say it loud
Don’t give up
Don’t give in
And don’t know what you can do next

Forgrounded

The writer or vocalist of this song is saying, through use of emotive words and tones, how he wasn’t able to be there when his father passed away, so wasn’t able to say the things that he wanted to to his father, or say goodbye. Though it is a long song, it’s slow, calm, soothing tune is thought provoking, and in certain circumstances, can cause tears (experience on my part). The vocalist also suggests, that even though his father has left him in body, his spirit is still there, looking over him and listening to him. Cited in the song:

“I think I caught his spirit, Later that same year, I’m sure I heard his echo, In my baby’s new born tears”

Marginalised

The only thing that I can’t find in this song that would be considered important would be the relationship between the father and the vocalist, if they were close or not. That could have played a role in why he [the vocal] was not able to see him before he went

My Meaning

This song means quite a lot to me as it was the leaving song at dad’s funeral. When mum told me to download it and listen to it, I had realised that I had heard this song before, but it hadn’t really moved me. I know how the vocalist felt, not being there when his father left, as I myself was doing what my father would have wanted me to do, and stayed at school. Plus, all my support crew, friends and such, were at school.

This is a good song for anyone to relate to…it doesn’t have to be about a son that has lost his father, could be a daughter too.

I guess the main meaning of this song is, if you love or hate your father, say what you need to before it’s too late, or you may not get a chance

~Dark_Havoc~

Gone Away ~ The Offspring

Maybe in another life
I could find you there
Pulled away before your time
I can’t deal it’s so unfair

 And it feels
And it feels like
Heaven’s so far away
And it feels
Yeah it feels like
The world has grown cold
Now that you’ve gone away

Leaving flowers on your grave
Show that I still care
But black roses and Hail Mary’s
Can’t bring back what’s taken from me

I reach to the sky
And call out your name
And if I could trade
I would

And it feels
And it feels like
Heaven’s so far away
And it stings
Yeah it stings now
The world is so cold
Now that you’ve gone away
Gone away, gone away, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Oooooo, yeah oooooo, oooooo, Ohh yeah.

I’ll Save Your Soul
Whoa. Yeaaaaaeeeaaeah. Mm.

I reach to the sky
And call out your name
Oh please let me trade
I would

And it feels
And it feels like
Heaven’s so far away
And it feels
Yeah it feels like
The world has grown cold
Now that you’ve gone away
Gone away, gone away, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Oooooo, yeah oooooo, oooooo, Ohh yeah.
Oooooo, yeah oooooo, oooooo, Ohh yeah.

~Dark_Havoc~

Hey all

Name’s Dark_Havoc. This journal is so I can log all the books and movies that I read/watch so my English teacher will give me a good mark at the end of the year.

I read a fair bit, and watch a fair bit of movies too, and on top of that I listen to music almost every hour of the day.

I’m into…

Books: Mainly horror books, but also books with an excellent and easy to follow plot, that keep you suspended til the very end

Movies: Let’s see…action, horror, thriller, comedy, animation…yeah, I think that’s it…oh yeah, and Sci-Fi too

Music: Ahh, music…I live and breath for it. I am into all kinds of music…rap, rock, R&B, pop…you name it, I most likely listen to it. Fav bands are: Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, Papa Roach, The Offspring, Linkin Park and System of a Down (might do a few lyrics, and chances are they will be from the aforementioned artists). I am into many other artists, but the mentioned ones are my favourites

That’s all I can think about at the moment, so bye for now

~Dark_Havoc~