DRAFT DODGER RAG
(Phil Ochs)

The Chad Mitchell Trio - 1964
Phil Ochs - 1965
The Moonshiners - 1965
The Millburnaires - 1965
Pete Seeger - 1966
The Four Preps - 1967
The Colours - 1967
The Kit Kats - 1967
Liffey Folk - 1969

Also recorded by:
Four In The Morning; The Apples; Frank Campbell; Tom Paxton;
Cocky; Disappear Fear; The Golden Staters.




As recorded by PETE SEEGER:

I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town
I believe in God and Senator Dodd and in keepin' old Castro down
And when it came my time to serve I knew "better dead than red"
But when I got to my old draft board, buddy, this is what I said

Sarge, I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet are flat
And my asthma's getting worse
Oh, think of my career, my sweetheart dear
My poor old invalid aunt
Beside, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin' to school
And I'm working in a defence plant

I got a dislocated disc and a wracked 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, 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

I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet are flat
And my asthma's getting worse
Oh, think of my career, my sweetheart dear
And my poor old invalid aunt
Beside, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin' to school
And I'm working in a defence plant

I hate Chou En Lai, and I hope he dies
But I think 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
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

Sarge, I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet are flat
And my asthma's getting worse
Oh, think of my career, my sweetheart dear
And my poor old invalid aunt
Beside, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin' to school
And I'm working in a defence plant


(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2006)