Draft Dodger Rag lyrics

Song information

Artist: Phil Ochs
Album: Live At Newport

Lyrics

G g#/a
I'm just a typical american boy from a typical american town
D7 g
I believe in god and senator dodd and keeping old castro down
G# a
And when it came my time to serve I knew better dead than red
D7 g
But when I got to my old draft board, buddy, this is what I said:

G
Sarge, I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen
G#/a
And I always carry a purse
D7
I got eyes like a bat, my feet are flat, and my asthma's
G
Getting worse
G# a
O think of my career, my sweetheart dear, and my poor old
Invalid aunt
D7
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a goin' to school, and I'm
G
Working in a defense plant

I've got a dislocated disc and a racked up back
I'm allergic to flowers and bugs
And when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits
And I'm addicted to a thousand drugs
I got the weakness woes, and I can't touch my toes
I can hardly reach my knees
And if the enemy came close to me
I'd probably start to sneeze

(Chorus)

I hate chou en lai, and I hope he dies
But one thing you gotta see
That someone's gotta go over there
And that someone isn't me
So I wish you well, sarge, give 'em hell
Yeah, kill me a thousand or so
And if you ever get a war without blood and gore
Well I'll be the first to go

(Chorus)