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00:00the very first images I ever saw of this country were the ones that were
00:19being tuned to my living room on the television police has still not
00:24returned to the streets of Saigon Australia was fighting a war in Vietnam North Vietnamese units
00:33have charged the hill as the communists kept attacking by the 1970s it had generated the
00:39biggest protest movement the country had ever seen the execution of a Viet Cong about 30 tons
00:45of bomb it's not the Viet Cong but after the last Australian troops left Vietnam in 1973
00:54the story just seemed to stop it's like everybody just wanted to forget until
01:03one song broke the silence and another broke our hearts but could these two songs help those who
01:19hadn't been to war finally understand those who had
01:28I'm Rachel Griffiths and I believe that when it comes to understanding the war
01:34art is our secret weapon so in this series I'm putting this theory to the test one war and one
01:44artwork at a time because while journalists tell us what happened they left in scenes that are now
01:52part of television's history it's our performance when the song was released it was banned yeah
01:58filmmakers Peter we have writers the narrow road to the deep north artists I was the only one not
02:08carrying a weapon and musicians if it's too risky to say sing it who help us make sense of it all
02:17it's not just there to be pretty and admired art is the magnifying glass and the mirror this was a
02:29pub rock song that changed our lives that's what art can do this is when the war is over
02:38all right well while we're having something to work you know bugging I want to ask you some
02:46questions if you don't mind no one at this table knows it yet but these two young artists
02:52will go on to sell over 7 million albums with their band cold chisel well one thing I just want to
03:16say just before you go and last night absolutely confirmed in my book well maybe the guy in the
03:22kimono has an inkling without a reserve doubt I think you're the best rock and roll band in the country
03:34I left my heart to the seppos round case and this was the song that started it all
03:40you see people singing case and everyone's got a smile on their face which I think is really kind
03:52of interesting because you might have had no experience of the war it's just kind of become
03:57this song that's gone beyond the Australian experience in the Vietnam War and become strangely
04:03this anthem released in 1978 K San is written from the perspective of a restless Vietnam veteran
04:15I think the really weird thing about this song is I only recently realized that K San was a battle that
04:32Australians didn't have troops on the ground this particular song was came from a certain
04:41ignorance at the war because I had no idea on a rainy afternoon that there were no Australians at
04:49K San I was just writing neither songwriter Don Walker or singer Jimmy Barnes had ever been to Vietnam
04:57but they knew young men who had K San really captures the story of that post Vietnam coming
05:07home where did that occur to you as something that needed to be sung about this particular song was came
05:15from my rural background I had gone from a kid on a very small farm where other kids typically went to
05:25Vietnam to being on a university campus where all my city friends were getting locked up for being in
05:34anti-war marches so then you get this disconnect it's a song about a guy after war yeah people who went to
05:45Vietnam they were sent back and and and suddenly they were the first people who'd represented us as
05:50soldiers who had who weren't sort of welcomed home as heroes when the war began many Australians were
06:01in favor of supporting America's war we were told it would prevent South Vietnam and the rest of Southeast
06:11Asia falling to communism like dominoes some 60,000 Australian troops fought in the war and somehow
06:24when he was singing K San Jimmy Barnes seemed to be one of them
06:33do you remember the feeling in the early days of seeing the song of you becoming that guy because that's not your story
06:46no but I was running away from a different war my whole life
06:58you know like that same uneasiness and and not fitting in anywhere from trauma and from fear and all that sort of
07:05stuff I could sing those lyrics with venom from the start as their debut single K San was the band's first attempt to get played on commercial radio
07:24though they already had thousands of rowdy fans from their live shows at the time people responded well to it straight away but when the song was released it was banned yeah made a made a big thing tell me about that moment
07:39apparently there's a few lyrics in this song you're good my recollection is that 2SM was the biggest station in the country at the time but at the time it was owned by the Catholic Church I think
07:53and they took offense to the lyrics the legs were often open their minds were always closed
07:58their legs were often open but their minds were always closed
08:03that was that's what bothered them there wasn't anything about the atrocities of war
08:08but of course the quickest way to make a song successful is to ban it
08:13and of course it took on a life of its own and it still is one of the most played songs on Australian radio to this day
08:17so that story has been with us and been part of the fabric of who we are as Australians for decades
08:24and that's something that not a lot of art can lay claim to
08:29and I think that's the beauty of a good lyric is that people go oh yeah I know this song is about me
08:36you know something I feel
08:38just a moment for Banzi's voice holy moly
08:51for Australian actor Kate Mulvaney
08:56K-san is more than an anthem it's personal
09:00oh my god this song that's always been part of my consciousness
09:03like that's my dad
09:05growing up Kate knew little about her dad's wartime experience in Vietnam
09:10it was like the words he's a Vietnam vendor and be careful he's been in Vietnam
09:16that was the kind of thing
09:19my dad was very very good to me as a kid but growing up he was having white outs they're called
09:26which is just a loss of time
09:33he had horrific nightmares
09:38the bed would be drenched with sweat
09:41and I just wanted to say dad what happened
09:47but soldiers don't talk
09:54and that's where years later K-san comes in
09:59I was driving across the Nullarbor with my dad
10:02I throw on a song
10:04I was a country WA girl so I grew up on pub rock
10:07and I threw on K-san
10:09I had the Vietnam cold turkey
10:12from the ocean to the silver city
10:15I said do you know this song?
10:18he said yeah kind of
10:21and I said listen to it
10:23how there were no fide heroes in 1973
10:28and he went so quiet
10:32and he said play it again
10:35and I played it again
10:40and we listened to it
10:42play it again
10:43play it again
10:44and he played it seven times in a row
10:52and he found through these incredible Don Walker lyrics
10:56and Barnsey's voice
10:58his story
11:00for the first time felt like I had a conversation with my father through someone else's words
11:16it turns out Kate's dad Danny never chose to fight in Vietnam
11:21inside here today were 181 marbles representing birthdays
11:26from 1965
11:30any 20-year-old man whose birthday was drawn from this lottery
11:34could be sent to fight overseas
11:37somebody got your shoulder
11:43over 15,000 20-year-old men were conscripted to fight in Vietnam
11:49a daunting prospect for those approaching call-up age
11:54I remember went for my number coming up
11:57and I was sort of thinking what would I do
11:59because you know
12:00I was quite happy to fight in the street
12:01but I didn't fancy going to war
12:03I had a couple of mates
12:06that had gone to Vietnam in the 60s
12:08and for one of them it didn't end up well
12:11when he came back
12:12and when you're seeing that
12:14and realise what you're going to be
12:15and you're going to be conscripted into
12:17it wasn't like rah rah rah
12:19let's go and fight for our country
12:21it was holy hell
12:22this is the area where most of the Australians were based
12:32and I've come to walk in their footsteps
12:38with their recently recorded stories
12:43we were being watched all the time
12:46you never knew who was an enemy and who wasn't
12:50we knew them were mines
12:53but we had no idea where they were
12:55then I heard the bang
12:58rush of air
13:02and I feel them up in the air
13:06thump on the ground
13:10when you listen to those first-hand accounts
13:13and walk through the type of terrain
13:15that the Australian soldiers were patrolling through
13:18the idea that any step could be your last
13:24you know you're being watched
13:25but you can't see them
13:27but also if you've been that alert
13:30for such a long period of time
13:32never knowing where your enemy is
13:35I think that constant vigilance
13:38we see in K-SAN
13:41what that does to a guy when he comes home
13:44there's something immensely powerful about K-SAN
13:51I mean beautiful
13:53and very incisive
13:55and instructive
13:56so I think K-SAN kicked the door open
14:00John Schumann and his band Red Gum
14:03would soon release a song
14:04that was almost a prequel to K-SAN
14:07it was about the innocent boy who went to Vietnam
14:11rather than the haunted man who came home
14:15but they were the last people you'd expect to be writing
14:18from a soldier's perspective
14:20we came from you know the left side of politics
14:26Red Gum officially described themselves as a political folk rock band
14:32all of whom were totally opposed to the war in Vietnam
14:36although returning vets had been hailed as heroes
14:40in the early days of the conflict
14:44as the years passed
14:46TV brought war's brutal reality into living rooms like mine for the first time
14:53and public outrage led to the biggest protest movement the country had ever seen
14:59I think that the problem was when it's on television
15:03and we're actually seeing the absolute horrors
15:05mostly unnecessary horrors of war
15:08it's so easy to just point the finger at the guy who's come back
15:11or the woman who's come back
15:12I mean I think part of what drove me to write the song was when those soldiers marched and people threw bloodstained stuff at them
15:26I thought that was appalling
15:31civilians were very confused about where you put your hatred
15:37so I said I really want to write a song about Vietnam and Vietnam veterans
15:41but nobody will talk to me
15:46so when John's new brother-in-law Mick turned out to be a Vietnam vet
15:51he seized the moment
15:53to my surprise and everybody else's surprise he said yes
15:56the pair ended up talking for hours
15:59the pair ended up talking for hours and John recorded it all
16:04I'd been playing those cassettes on my Walkman
16:10and this sort of like got into my head almost subconsciously
16:13I went out into this tiny little backyard in Station Street Carlton
16:20I had on my guitar a cup of coffee
16:23and I wrote I was only 19 in about 15 minutes
16:27Wow
16:29you put your pen down
16:31do you kind of go I think I might be onto something
16:34sort of
16:35I didn't have any idea of you know how powerful this song was going to be or where it was going to go
16:40I had no idea
16:42Here's the man in your wand
16:44Red Gum folks
16:52Mum and Dad and Denny
16:55Saw the passing out
16:57Cried at pocket upon you
16:59Politics and propaganda aside
17:01Red Gum has certainly hit a nerve
17:03with ex-servicemen all over the country
17:06I'm sure that any bloke who hears that song
17:08that's been in Vietnam it'll send a chill down his back
17:11That song
17:13Yes man
17:15Then someone kneeled out
17:18Contact!
17:20Come behind this door
17:22We walked in there for hours
17:24Then I got a little mighty roar
17:27Franky
17:29Here was a song that veterans could relate to
17:31Because it told a story about one disastrous day
17:35Three platoon of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment
17:38Was involved in a mine explosion near the Long High Mountains in southern Fuktuwi province this week
17:43Now John Schumann's brother-in-law Mick was actually here that day
17:47And it's the details that he recounts that really brings the song to life
17:52Frankie kicked a mine
17:53Frankie kicked a mine
17:55The day that mankind kicked the moon
17:58God help me
18:00He was going home in June
18:05The M26 landmine, the jumping jack that Red Gum sing about
18:08Actually detonated right here on this spot
18:13One man was killed another 18 were wounded including Frankie from the song
18:28Of course the long shadow of this war stretches beyond those that fought in it
18:42By the war's end around 2 million Vietnamese civilians had lost their lives
18:47And when communist forces seized South Vietnam in 75
18:55Almost 2 million more would be forced to flee
19:04They left in scenes that are now part of television's history
19:07Among them were the parents of hip-hop artist Min Yuen, a.k.a. Chong Ali
19:19Today he writes about the long tale of the war
19:23But when he was an 80s kid in this neighbourhood
19:26K-san and only 19 filled the airwaves
19:30This one hits
19:32This one hits
19:37I love the songwriting in this
19:40Like as far as lyrically
19:42Saw the passing out
19:44Paraded
19:46Names, places
19:48A long march from cadets
19:50It's so visual
19:52Shows us young and strong and clean
19:55God built me
19:59Imagine being 19
20:01Going through this
20:03It does such a good job of representing
20:06You know the Australian perspective and a soldier's perspective
20:11But I guess whatever I can do through my art to contribute to the other side of that as well
20:18You know to sort of round out the picture
20:21Yeah that's what my goal is
20:23Yeah it was so cool
20:24I wanna hear some
20:26So can you tell
20:28This is um
20:29The song Goodbye
20:31Is basically
20:33Me telling
20:35The story of
20:37My parents
20:39Coming to
20:40This country
20:41This is
20:42I pray you reach a destination
20:44The boat's a symbol of a new life for my generation
20:47Mama's belly's swelling cause she got my brother in there
20:51I guess my primary goal with it is to tell the story right?
20:57To tell and carry the story and leave a mark
20:59A tiny young and with tens of thousands of refugees and all of them were viet with some form of PTSD
21:06Your family
21:08Didn't just lose the war they lost a country
21:12Yeah, yeah
21:14The reason why I think
21:16We still feel the impact of the war is because we are still displaced
21:21It's like you're sort of stuck in between these worlds
21:23We still be a gang, we a gang, we a gang, we a gang
21:27Hope we find my chongali
21:28Yo ain't nothing change but the money in the bank
21:30Plus the cash in the safe
21:31Keep it stacked for the battery
21:32Right, I love it
21:34I love doing this one live, it's so much fun
21:41What do you think the power of art, like where does it lie for you?
21:46We have an opportunity
21:48Especially with rap music
21:50To tell our story in our language in the way we choose to do so
21:56So I think art is such a good vehicle for that
21:59To, you know, bring everybody together
22:02Some songs just have a unique alchemy that strikes a common chord
22:12I'd like to single out one record
22:16And that was I Was Only 19 by Red Gum
22:18Just didn't mention blood and blood and tears
22:22I Was Only 19 stayed in the charts for four months
22:27I've always thought that buying that single was ordinary Australians saying, you know, we're sorry
22:34We're sorry we didn't welcome you home
22:37I was only 19
22:38I was only 19
22:41The tone of John's voice is both
22:45It's of acceptance but also shock and dismay
22:53It's like, hang on a minute
22:55I was a kid, you threw me into there as a kid
22:56Thank God Red Gum put those words in that song
23:03And thank God Don Walker put that energy into KSAN
23:07Because without those songs and without those references
23:10The conversations within our family wouldn't have started
23:14Which means we wouldn't have gone outside the family to say, hey, to our governments
23:18We need, we need to talk
23:21All these Vietnam veterans
23:24Who had not shared the fact that they had been in Vietnam
23:27With anybody else outside their family
23:30Actually felt suddenly empowered
23:32To be able to declare themselves as Vietnam veterans
23:36Can you tell me, doctor
23:39Why I still can't get to sleep
23:41Nighttime's just a jungle dark
23:45And I'm barking every 16
23:47And if you hadn't been so specific
23:50Like if these details hadn't have somehow resonated
23:53And it made all these guys go, I'm not alone, I'm not alone
23:57How does he, I thought it was just me
23:59How does this guy know me?
24:01It's crazy
24:02Gaining strength in numbers
24:06Vietnam vets began agitating for counselling, health services
24:11And recognition
24:13The scars still run deep
24:15So the veterans themselves have organised a welcome home parade
24:18Through the streets of Sydney
24:20To replace the one they never had
24:32An estimated 110,000 people thronged the streets of Sydney
24:36What was it like to play that day?
24:38It was extraordinary, I remember very clearly sitting in the back of a cab and I saw the march was underway
24:53And I had a bit of a weep, it was very emotional
24:56Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Pukka Panyol
24:59It was a long march from cadets
25:00And Frank was in a wheelchair at the time and his kids wheeled him on stage while I'm playing this thing
25:02And Frank was in a wheelchair at the time and his kids wheeled him on stage while I'm playing this thing
25:03Now they had you dusted off
25:05So you closed your eyes and you thought about stopping
25:08And I'm going to go down to the front of the back of the county and they were all in the back of the centre
25:12So the march was underway and I had a bit of a weep, it was very emotional
25:15Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Pukka Panyol
25:18It was a long march from cadets.
25:22And Frank was in a wheelchair at the time
25:24and his kids wheeled him on stage while I'm playing this thing.
25:27You know, that was a powerful moment for me
25:42to realise that, you know, it had such an effect.
25:46In such a deeply personal way.
25:49There's me in me slouch hat
25:51With me SLR and greens
25:53God help me
25:55I was only 19
26:00Welcome home!
26:07Do you think your song was part of that even happening at all?
26:20I would like to think the welcome home march could have happened and should have happened
26:26without 19. But I think what 19 did was demonstrate to all of us that you can oppose a war that
26:37our government gets us into if that's what your conscience demands of you. But it doesn't
26:42mean that you don't support and respect the servicemen and women that our government send
26:46to fight that war.
26:50Still not returned to the streets of Saigon.
26:53War often asks us to think in black and white.
26:57But it's art that invites us to see all the colours in between.
27:06This was a pub rock song that changed our lives. That's what art can do.
27:18Two iconic songs changed the conversation that the Australian public could have about the experience
27:24of those that fought in Vietnam and the war they brought home with them.
27:31You and I have both been artists for a very long time and probably started with a lot of
27:36idealism about the power of storytelling and art to change the world.
27:42Do you still believe that?
27:43Yeah I do. Don't ever ever tell me that songs can't change the world.
27:54Next time the official war artists can be as political as they want art that pushes the
28:03boundaries this is incredible oh and reveals the true cost of our most recent war this stopped
28:11our politicians in their tracks you miss you every moment of every day
28:24you.
28:31You
28:33You
28:35You
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