Skip to playerSkip to main content
BRITCOM 4
  • 2 days ago

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00The very first images I ever saw of this country were the ones that were
00:24bent into my living room on the television peace has still not returned to the streets of saigon
00:33australia was fighting a war in vietnam north vietnamese units have charged the hill as the
00:39communists kept attacking by the 1970s it had generated the biggest protest movement the
00:45country had ever seen the execution of a vietcong was 30 tons of bomb it's not the vietcong
00:52but after the last australian troops left vietnam in 1973
01:00the story just seemed to stop it's like everybody just wanted to forget until
01:12one song broke the silence and another only nine broke our hearts
01:21but could these two songs help those who hadn't been to war finally understand those who had
01:34i'm rachel griffiths and i believe that when it comes to understanding war
01:40art is our secret weapon
01:42so in this series i'm putting this theory to the test one war and one artwork at a time
01:53because while journalists tell us what happened they left in scenes that are now part of television's
01:58history it's our performance when the song was released it was banned yeah filmmakers peter we are prepared
02:08writers the narrow road to the deep north artists i was the only one not carrying a weapon and musicians
02:15so if it's too risky to say sing it who help us make sense of it holy this is incredible
02:28art's not just there to be pretty and admired art is the magnifying glass and the mirror this
02:34was a pub rock song that changed our lives that's what art can do this is when the war is over
02:53these are counting on countdown tonight cold chisel right well while we're having something to wake
03:02you know uh bugging um I want to ask you some questions if you have a money no one at this
03:07table knows it yet but these two young artists we read a lot of comics will go on to sell
03:15over seven million albums with their band, Cold Chisel.
03:20Well, one thing I just want to say just before you go,
03:22and last night absolutely confirmed it in my book.
03:25Well, maybe the guy in the kimono has an inkling.
03:28Without a reserve doubt,
03:29I think you're the best rock and roll band in the country.
03:38I left my heart to the setters round to sing.
03:43And this was the song that started it all.
03:52You see people singing K-San and everyone's got a smile on their face,
03:55which I think is really kind of interesting
03:57because you might have had no experience of the war.
04:01It's just kind of become this song that's gone beyond
04:04the Australian experience in the Vietnam War
04:07and become strangely this anthem.
04:13Released in 1978,
04:16K-San is written from the perspective
04:18of a restless Vietnam veteran.
04:20I've been back in South East Asia
04:23But the answer sure ain't there
04:25You know I'm drifting off to check things out
04:29I think the really weird thing about this song
04:34is I only recently realised
04:35that K-San was a battle
04:37that Australians didn't have troops on the ground.
04:43This particular song was
04:44came from a certain ignorance
04:46about the war
04:47because I had no idea
04:50on a rainy afternoon
04:52that there were no Australians at K-San.
04:55I was just writing.
04:57Neither songwriter Don Walker
04:59or singer Jimmy Barnes
05:01had ever been to Vietnam
05:02but they knew young men who had.
05:06K-San really captures the story
05:08of that post-Vietnam coming home.
05:13Where did that occur to you
05:15as something that needed to be sung about?
05:17This particular song was
05:19came from my rural background.
05:23I had gone from a kid on a very small farm
05:26where other kids typically went to Vietnam
05:30to being on a university campus
05:34where all my city friends
05:36were getting locked up
05:38for being in anti-war marches.
05:41So then you get this disconnect.
05:43It's a song about a guy
05:46after war.
05:48Yeah.
05:49People who went to Vietnam
05:50they were sent back
05:51and suddenly
05:52they were the first people
05:54who'd represented us as soldiers
05:55who weren't sort of welcomed home
05:58as heroes.
06:03When the war began
06:04many Australians were in favour
06:06of supporting America's war.
06:12We were told it would prevent
06:13South Vietnam
06:14and the rest of South East Asia
06:17falling to communism
06:18like dominoes.
06:23Some 60,000 Australian troops
06:26fought in the war
06:27and somehow
06:30when he was singing K-San
06:32Jimmy Barnes seemed to be one of them.
06:38Do you remember the feeling
06:46in the early days
06:47of singing the song
06:48of you becoming that guy?
06:50Because that's not your story.
06:52No, but I was running away
06:54from a different war.
06:55Not my whole life.
06:56You know, like that same uneasiness
07:06and not fitting in anywhere
07:08from trauma
07:09and from fear
07:10and all that sort of stuff.
07:11I tried to find a place
07:13to settle down
07:14where my neck suckled after me
07:17I held a job
07:18I could sing those lyrics
07:20with venom from the start.
07:22As their debut single
07:25K-San was the band's
07:27first attempt
07:27to get played
07:28on commercial radio
07:30though they already had
07:32thousands of rowdy fans
07:34from their live shows.
07:36At the time
07:36people responded
07:37well to it straight away
07:38but when the song
07:40was released
07:40it was banned.
07:41Yeah
07:42It made a big thing.
07:44Tell me about that moment.
07:47Apparently there's a few
07:48lyrics in the song
07:49My recollection is
07:54that 2SM
07:55was the biggest station
07:55in the country
07:56at the time
07:57but at the time
07:57it was owned
07:58by the Catholic Church
07:59I think
07:59and they took offence
08:00to the lyrics
08:01that legs were often open
08:03and their minds
08:03were always closed
08:04That's what bothered them
08:11There wasn't anything
08:12about the atrocities
08:13of war
08:14But of course
08:16the quickest way
08:17to make a song successful
08:18is to ban it
08:18and of course
08:19it took on a life
08:20of its own
08:20and it still is
08:21one of the most
08:21played songs
08:21on Australian radio
08:22to this day
08:23So that story
08:25has been with us
08:25and been part
08:26of the fabric
08:27of who we are
08:28as Australians
08:29for decades
08:30and that's something
08:31that not a lot
08:32of art
08:33can lay claim to
08:34And I think
08:36that's the beauty
08:36of a good lyric
08:38is that people go
08:39oh yeah
08:39I know this song
08:41it's about me
08:41it's something I feel
08:43Sing a bungee
08:47also just a moment
08:53for Barnsley's voice
08:55holy moly
08:57For Australian actor
09:00Kate Mulvaney
09:01Kaysan is more
09:03than an anthem
09:03it's personal
09:05Oh my god
09:06this song that's
09:07always been part
09:07of my consciousness
09:08that's my dad
09:09Growing up
09:11Kate knew little
09:12about her dad's
09:13wartime experience
09:14in Vietnam
09:15It was like the words
09:17he's a Vietnam
09:18bedroom
09:19Be careful
09:20he's been in Vietnam
09:21That was the kind
09:22of thing
09:24My dad was very
09:26very good to me
09:27as a kid
09:28but growing up
09:29he was having
09:30whiteouts
09:31they're called
09:32which is
09:34just a loss
09:34of time
09:35He had
09:40horrific nightmares
09:42the bed would be
09:44drenched with sweat
09:46and I just wanted
09:48to say
09:49Dad
09:49what happened
09:51but
09:54soldiers don't talk
09:57And that's where
10:00years later
10:02Kaysan comes in
10:04I was driving
10:05across the Nullibur
10:06with my dad
10:07I throw on a song
10:09I was country
10:10WA girl
10:11so I grew up
10:12on pub rock
10:12and I threw
10:14on Kaysan
10:15I had the Vietnam
10:16cold turkey
10:18from the ocean
10:19to the silver city
10:20I said
10:21do you know
10:22this song
10:22He said
10:25yeah
10:25kind of
10:26and I said
10:27listen to it
10:28How there were
10:29no
10:30videos
10:30in
10:321973
10:33And he went
10:35so quiet
10:36and he said
10:39play it again
10:40and I played it
10:45again
10:45and we listened
10:46to it
10:47play it again
10:48play it again
10:49and he played it
10:51seven times
10:51in a row
10:52and he found
10:58through these
11:00incredible
11:00Don Walker
11:01lyrics
11:01and Barnsey's
11:03voice
11:03his story
11:05For the first time
11:13felt like
11:14I had
11:15a conversation
11:16with my father
11:17through
11:17someone else's words
11:19It turns out
11:22Kate's dad
11:23Danny
11:24never chose
11:25to fight
11:25in Vietnam
11:26Inside here today
11:28were 181 marbles
11:30representing birthdays
11:31from 1965
11:35any 20-year-old man
11:37whose birthday
11:38was drawn
11:39from this lottery
11:40could be sent
11:41to fight overseas
11:42It's a body
11:43got in your shoulder
11:44Come on
11:45Ah, you see
11:46that's what happened
11:47to me
11:47don't you?
11:48Yep
11:48Over 15,000
11:5020-year-old men
11:51were conscripted
11:53to fight
11:53in Vietnam
11:54A daunting prospect
11:57for those
11:58approaching
11:58call-up age
11:59I remember
12:01waiting for my
12:02number
12:02coming up
12:03and I was
12:03sort of thinking
12:04what would I do
12:05because, you know
12:05I was quite happy
12:06to fight in the street
12:07but I didn't fancy
12:07going to war
12:08I had a couple
12:11of mates
12:11that had gone
12:12to Vietnam
12:13in the 60s
12:14and for one
12:15of them
12:15it didn't end
12:16well
12:16when he came back
12:18And when you're
12:19seeing that
12:20and realise
12:20what you're
12:21going to be
12:21conscripted into
12:23it wasn't like
12:24rah, rah, rah
12:25let's go and
12:26fight for our country
12:26it was holy hell
12:27This is the area
12:36where most of
12:36the Australians
12:37were based
12:38and I've come
12:43to walk
12:44in their footsteps
12:45with their
12:46recently recorded
12:47stories
12:48We were being
12:50watched all the
12:51time
12:51You never knew
12:53who was an
12:54enemy
12:54and who wasn't
12:55We knew
12:57them were mines
12:58but we had
12:59no idea
13:00where they were
13:00Then I heard
13:02the bang
13:03rush of air
13:08and I feel
13:10I'm up in the air
13:11thump
13:12on the ground
13:13When you listen
13:17to those
13:17first hand
13:17accounts
13:18and walk
13:19through the
13:19type of
13:20terrain
13:20that the
13:21Australian
13:21soldiers
13:22were patrolling
13:23through
13:24the idea
13:26the idea
13:26that any
13:26step
13:26could be
13:27your last
13:27You know
13:30you're being
13:30watched
13:31but you
13:31can't see
13:31them
13:32But also
13:33if you've
13:34been
13:34that alert
13:35for such
13:36a long
13:37period of
13:37time
13:37never knowing
13:39where your
13:39enemy is
13:40and I think
13:41that constant
13:42vigilance
13:43we see
13:45in K-San
13:46what that
13:47does to a
13:48guy
13:48when he
13:49comes home
13:49There's something
13:54immensely powerful
13:55about K-San
13:56I mean
13:57beautiful
13:58and very
13:59incisive
14:00and instructive
14:02So I think
14:03K-San
14:04kicked the
14:04door open
14:05John Schumann
14:07and his band
14:08Red Gum
14:08would soon
14:09release a song
14:10that was
14:10almost a
14:11prequel
14:12to K-San
14:13It was about
14:14the innocent
14:14boy who
14:15went to
14:16Vietnam
14:16rather than
14:18the haunted
14:18man who
14:19came home
14:20But they
14:21were the
14:22last people
14:22you'd expect
14:23to be writing
14:24from a
14:24soldier's
14:25perspective
14:25We came
14:26from
14:27you know
14:28the left
14:29side of
14:29politics
14:31Red Gum
14:34officially
14:34described
14:35themselves
14:35as a
14:36political
14:36folk rock
14:37band
14:37all of
14:38whom
14:38were
14:39totally
14:39opposed
14:40to
14:40the
14:40war
14:40in
14:40Vietnam
14:41Although
14:43returning
14:44vets
14:44had been
14:44hailed
14:45as heroes
14:46in the
14:46early
14:47days
14:47of the
14:47conflict
14:48As the
14:50years
14:51passed
14:51TV
14:52brought
14:53war's
14:53brutal
14:54reality
14:54into
14:55living
14:55rooms
14:55like
14:55mine
14:56for the
14:56first
14:57time
14:57And
14:59public
14:59outrage
15:00led to
15:01the biggest
15:01protest
15:02movement
15:02the
15:02country
15:03had
15:03ever
15:03seen
15:04I
15:05think
15:06that
15:06the
15:06problem
15:06was
15:07when
15:08it's
15:08on
15:08television
15:09and
15:09we're
15:09actually
15:09seeing
15:10the
15:10absolute
15:10horrors
15:11mostly
15:11unnecessary
15:12horrors
15:13of war
15:13It's so
15:15easy to
15:15just point
15:15the finger
15:16at the
15:16guy
15:16who's
15:16come
15:17back
15:17or
15:17the
15:17woman
15:17who's
15:17come
15:18back
15:18three
15:19four
15:19we
15:20turn
15:20on
15:20the
15:21war
15:21I
15:22mean
15:22I
15:22think
15:22part
15:23of
15:23what
15:23drove
15:24me
15:24to
15:26write
15:26the
15:26song
15:27was
15:27when
15:28those
15:28soldiers
15:28marched
15:29and
15:29people
15:30threw
15:30bloodstained
15:31stuff
15:31at them
15:32I
15:33thought
15:34that
15:34was
15:34appalling
15:36Civilians
15:38were
15:39very
15:39confused
15:40about
15:40where
15:41you
15:41put
15:41your
15:41hatred
15:42so
15:43I
15:43said
15:43I
15:44really
15:44want
15:44to
15:44write
15:44a
15:45song
15:45about
15:45Vietnam
15:46and
15:46Vietnam
15:46veterans
15:47but
15:47nobody
15:48will
15:49talk
15:49to
15:49me
15:49So
15:52when
15:52John's
15:53new
15:53brother-in-law
15:54Mick
15:54turned out
15:55to be
15:55a
15:55Vietnam
15:55vet
15:56he
15:57seized
15:57the
15:57moment
15:58To
16:00my
16:00surprise
16:00and
16:00everybody
16:01else
16:01surprised
16:01he
16:01said
16:02yes
16:02The
16:04pair
16:05ended
16:05up
16:05talking
16:06for
16:06hours
16:06and
16:07John
16:08recorded
16:09it
16:09all
16:09I'd
16:10been
16:10playing
16:11those
16:13cassettes
16:13on my
16:14Walkman
16:15and
16:16it sort
16:17of
16:17got into
16:18my head
16:18almost
16:19subconsciously
16:19I went
16:21out
16:21into this
16:22tiny little
16:23backyard
16:23in
16:24Station
16:24Street
16:24Carlton
16:25I
16:26had
16:26my
16:26guitar
16:27a cup
16:27of
16:27coffee
16:28and
16:28I
16:29wrote
16:29I was
16:30only 19
16:31and
16:31about 15
16:31minutes
16:32Wow
16:33You put
16:34your pen
16:34down
16:35do you
16:36kind of
16:36go
16:36I think
16:37I might
16:38be on
16:38to
16:38something
16:38Sort
16:39of
16:39I
16:40didn't
16:40have
16:40any
16:41idea
16:41of
16:42how
16:43powerful
16:43this
16:44song
16:44was
16:44going
16:44to
16:44be
16:44or
16:45where
16:45it
16:45was
16:45going
16:45to
16:45go
16:45I
16:45had
16:46I
16:46had
16:48no
16:48idea
16:48here's
16:49the band
16:50you want
16:51red gum
16:51folks
16:52Politics and propaganda aside, Redgum has certainly hit a nerve with ex-servicemen all over the country.
17:11I'm sure that any bloke that hears that song has been in Vietnam, it'll send a chill down his back.
17:16That song gets me.
17:22Here was a song that veterans could relate to, because it told a story about one disastrous day.
17:40Three platoon of the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, was involved in a mine explosion near the Long High Mountains in southern Fuktuwe province this week.
17:48Now John Schumann's brother-in-law Mick was actually here that day, and it's the details that he recounts that really brings the song to life.
17:58Frankie kicked a mine, day that mankind kicked the moon, God help me, he was going home in June.
18:10The M26 landmine, the jumping jack that Redgum sing about, actually detonated right here on this spot.
18:27One man was killed, another 18 were wounded, including Frankie from the song.
18:34Of course, the long shadow of this war stretches beyond those that fought in it.
18:48By the war's end, around 2 million Vietnamese civilians had lost their lives.
18:53And when communist forces seized South Vietnam in 75, almost 2 million more would be forced to flee.
19:09They left in scenes that are now part of television's history.
19:14Among them were the parents of hip-hop artist Min Nguyen, a.k.a. Chong Ali.
19:20Today, he writes about the long tale of the war.
19:28But when he was an 80s kid in this neighbourhood, K-San, an only 19, filled the airwaves.
19:35This one hits.
19:38This one hits.
19:38I love the songwriting in this.
19:45Like, as far as lyrically.
19:52Names, places.
19:55It's so visual.
19:56Imagine being from the paper shows as a young and strong and clean God built me.
20:04Imagine being 19.
20:05I was only 19.
20:07Going through this.
20:08It does such a good job of representing, you know, the Australian perspective and a soldier's perspective.
20:17But, I guess, whatever I can do through my art to contribute to the other side of that as well, you know, to sort of round out the picture, yeah, that's what my goal is.
20:29Yeah, it was so cool.
20:30I want to hear some.
20:31So, can you tell, this is, um...
20:34The song, Goodbye, is basically, um, me telling the story of my parents coming to this country.
20:46Say goodbye, it's a prayer you reach a destination.
20:49The boat's a symbol of a new life for my generation.
20:52Mama's belly's swelling cause she got my brother in there.
20:55I guess my primary goal with it is to tell the story, right?
21:02To tell and carry the story and leave a mark.
21:05A tiny island with tens of thousands of refugees and all of them were viet with some form of PTSD.
21:11Your family didn't just lose the war, they lost a country.
21:17Yeah.
21:18Yeah.
21:18The reason why I think we still feel the impact of the war is because we are still displaced.
21:27It's like you're sort of stuck in between these worlds.
21:29It's the big gang, big gang, big gang.
21:32Hope you find my chong-a-li, yo.
21:33Ain't nothing changed but the money in the bank.
21:35Plus the cash in the safe.
21:37Keep it stacked for the battery.
21:38Right, I love it.
21:39I'm a splash like I'm running point while they go to state.
21:43I love doing this one live.
21:45It's so much fun.
21:46What do you think the power of art, like where does it lie for you?
21:51We have an opportunity, especially with rap music, to tell our story in our language in the way we choose to do so.
22:01So I think art is such a good vehicle for that, to bring everybody together.
22:07Some songs just have a unique alchemy that strikes a common chord.
22:16I'd like to single out one record, and that was I Was Only 19 by Red Gum.
22:26I Was Only 19 stayed in the charts for four months.
22:30I've always thought that buying that single was ordinary Australians saying, you know, we're sorry.
22:39We're sorry we didn't welcome you home.
22:43I Was Only 19.
22:44The tone of John's voice is both, it's of acceptance, but also shock and dismay.
22:58It's like, hang on a minute.
23:00I was a kid.
23:01You threw me into there as a kid.
23:02Thank God Red Gum put those words in that song, and thank God Don Walker put that energy into KSAN,
23:13because without those songs and without those references, the conversations within our family wouldn't have started,
23:19which means we wouldn't have gone outside the family to say, hey, to our governments, we need to talk.
23:25All these Vietnam veterans who had not shared the fact that they'd been in Vietnam with anybody else outside their family
23:35actually felt suddenly empowered to be able to declare themselves as Vietnam veterans.
23:41And if you hadn't been so specific, like if these details hadn't have somehow resonated,
23:58and it made all these guys go, I'm not alone, I'm not alone.
24:01How does he, I thought it was just me.
24:04How does this guy know me?
24:06It's crazy.
24:07Gaining strength in numbers, Vietnam vets began agitating for counselling, health services and recognition.
24:18The scars still run deep, so the veterans themselves have organised a welcome home parade through the streets of Sydney
24:24to replace the one they never had.
24:37An estimated 110,000 people thronged the streets of Sydney.
24:45What was it like to play that day?
25:03Oh, it was extraordinary.
25:04I remember very clearly sitting in the back of a cab and I saw the march was underway and had a bit of a weep.
25:14It was very emotional.
25:17Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Pucka Punyal.
25:24It was a long march from cadets.
25:26And Frank was in a wheelchair at the time and his kids wheeled him on stage while I'm playing this thing.
25:32They had you dusted off
25:35So you closed your eyes and you thought about something else
25:39And then someone yelled out, contact
25:43You know, that was a powerful moment for me to realise that it had such an effect
25:51In such a deeply personal way.
25:54There's me and me slouch hat
25:56With me SLR and greens
25:58God help me
26:00I was only 19
26:05Welcome home!
26:12Do you think your song was part of that even happening at all?
26:25I would like to think the welcome home march could have happened and should have happened without 19
26:32But I think what 19 did was demonstrate to all of us that you can oppose a war that our government gets us into
26:43If that's what your conscience demands of you
26:45But it doesn't mean that you don't support and respect the servicemen and women that our government send to fight that war
26:57War often asks us to think in black and white
27:02But it's art that invites us to see all the colours in between
27:11This was a pub rock song that changed our lives
27:16That's what art can do
27:21Two iconic songs changed the conversation that the Australian public could have about the experience of those that fought in Vietnam
27:31And the war they brought home with them
27:33And the war they brought home with them
27:35You and I have both been artists for a very long time
27:39And probably started with a lot of idealism about the power of storytelling and art to change the world
27:45Do you still believe that?
27:48Yeah I do
27:49Don't ever ever tell me that songs can't change the world
27:53Next time
28:03The official war artists can be as political as they want
28:07Art that pushes the boundaries
28:09This is incredible
28:10And reveals the true cost of our most recent war
28:14This stopped our politicians in their tracks
28:18We miss you every moment, every day
28:20Oh my god
28:22What are you doing
28:24Like a person
28:26A person
28:27That's the invincible
28:28A person
28:29Much to help
28:30queen
28:32And for the last one
28:34A person
28:35A person
28:36Into the void
28:37Who is a person
28:38A person
28:40A person
28:42A person
28:44A person
28:46A person
28:47A person
Be the first to comment
Add your comment