Chords for Long Tan (Khe Sanh) - John Schumann & Hugh McDonald

[Abm] with the permission of the guy who wrote the song
Don Walker [Am] from Cold Chisel,
because Australians weren't at K-San.
K-San was the [Em] siege of an American [N] fire base
way to the north of where Australians were operating.
_ _ So _ _ Don graciously allowed us to change the first line
to his very famous and absolutely stunning song
_ to reflect the bravery of the chopper crews
_ from 9RAAF squadron who flew the resupply mission
into the Battle of Long Tan.
Very quick military history of the Battle of [Gbm] Long Tan.
Two and a half thousand NVA [N] Regulars and Viet Cong
assembled in a battalion _ in the rubber plantation
outside the village of Long Tan
to mount a major attack on the Australian base at Nui Dat.
_ And 128 Australian soldiers _ stumbled across this force
and there was a firefight that lasted
for about four hours in fading light
and in a monsoonal downpour.
And the boys were running short of ammo,
_ desperately short of ammo,
and _ _ they couldn't get them out
because it was wet and the light was very low
and it was just a nightmare.
There were two chopper crews listening to the radio traffic
and against air staff [D] directives,
[A] they _ [G] flew the resupply mission _ _ _ [Am] into that battle.
_ _ [A] Probably hovered the choppers not much higher than [Ab] this roof
and _ _ dropped packets of ammo to [E] their mates
who were literally [G] fighting for their lives
in the rubber plantation below,
[E] thereby risking [G] themselves and their aircraft
to _ small arms [Gbm] fire from the [Dm] ground.
_ [Ab] _
_ [N] Eventually _ _ [G] the Viet Cong and the NVA Regulars [N] withdrew
and we got our boys out.
We lost 17, there were 24 wounded.
When the Australians went back the next day,
there were _ 245 enemy dead that they hadn't been able
to remove, so that was a pretty significant _ _ battle.
And the 50th anniversary of that battle
will be celebrated or commemorated this year. _
Anyway, we _ _ did our version of _ this famous God Chisel song
and we hope you like what we've done with it.
_ _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _
_ [Em] _ _ _ [Dm] _ [Em] _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
_ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _
_ [Dm] _ _ [Em] _ _ [D] _ _ [Dm] _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] ♪ Well I owe my life to the choppers at [C] Long Tank _ _ _ [Am] ♪
♪ And I sold my soul with [F] my cigarettes [G] to the black market man _ [Am] ♪
♪ Had to Vietnam, [F] cold turkey, _ [C] from the ocean to the [F] Silver City [C] ♪
♪ And [D] it's only [Bb] how the vets could [G] understand [Am] ♪
_ [G] _
_ ♪ About [Am] the long forgotten dark side _ guarantees _ ♪ _
♪ How they were OVA [F] _ heroes [G] in _ [Am] 1973 [G] _ ♪
♪ [Am] And we sailed in the Sydney [F] Harbour, _
[Am] saw an old friend ♪
♪ But I couldn't kiss her, she [D] was mine ♪
♪ I [G] was close to the lucky [C] man, _ _ _ _ _ [Am] she was like [B] so many more [F] ♪
♪ From that [C] time on, _ _ _ _ _ [Em] and their lives were all so [F] empty ♪
[G] ♪ Till they found their chosen one, _ _ [A] and their [Em] legs were up and [F] open ♪
[C] ♪ And their minds were always [F] closed, [C] _
[Dm] and their hearts were held [Gm] in vast suburban [G] chains [Am] ♪
[G] _ _
♪ And [A] the legal pads [F] were yellow, _ [C] hours long pain that would sling _ ♪
♪ And the [B] telex riders [F] clattered, _ _
[G] where the gunship [Am] squats had [G] been _ [D] ♪
♪ And [Em] car parts made me [F] jumpy, _ [C] and I never stopped the [F] dreams [Am] _
_ [Dm] _ ♪
♪ And the [G] speed then _ [C] overcame, _ _ _ _ _ _ [Am] so I travelled around the [F] country _ [C]
from end to end ♪ _ _
[Am] ♪ I was flying to places [F] settled out, [G] where my mixed [C]-up life [G] could mend ♪
♪ [Am] I got a job [F] on an oil rig, _ [C] flying choppers when I [F] could [C]
♪
♪ [Dm] But the nightlife [Gm] nearly drove me [G] round the bend _ [C] _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ [B] _ [F] ♪
♪ [C] I'd been travelling from year to year, _ _ _ _ _ _ [Am] and each one found me [F] anxious ♪
♪ [G] One more year, [Am] but worse for [G] wear ♪
♪ I'd [D] been [Em] back to South East [F] Asia, _ [C] but the answer sure ain't [F] there [Am] ♪
♪ And [Dm] I'm drifting north, [G] to check things [C] out again ♪ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Em] _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ [B] _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ [C] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ ♪ And [Am] the last plane out of [F] Sydney [C] is home on a storm _ _ ♪
_ [Am] ♪ In seven [G] flying _
[F] hours, [Em] I'll be [Am] landing in [G] Hong Kong ♪
♪ [Am] There's nothing like the [F] kisses _ [Cm] of a jaded Chinese [F]
princess [Am] [D] ♪
♪ Gonna [Dm] hit some Hong Kong [Bb]
mattress all [G] night long [Am] ♪
[G] _ _
_ [Am] ♪ And the last plane [G] out of [F] Sydney is [C] home on a storm ♪ _ _ _
♪ [Am] And the last plane [F] out of Sydney [G] is home on a storm _ [D] [G] ♪ _
♪ [Am] Not really [G] got me [F] worried, _
[Am] going nowhere, I'm in [F] a hurry [Am]
♪
♪ And [Dm] though the last plane out [G] of Sydney's _ [C] almost gone ♪ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [N] _ Please keep your car lighters, and your own