Phil Ochs - Draft Dodger Rag Meaning
Draft Dodger Rag Lyrics
(Phil Ochs)
I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town
I believe in God and Senator Todd and keeping old Castro down
And when it came my time to serve I knew better dead than red
But when I got to my old...
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Many young men, even patriotic ones, participated in "draft dodging" during the Vietnam war, using sometimes outlandish reasons such as being gay (which was often a lie) to get out of the fighting. In this song, Phil expresses the hypocrisy of patriotic pro-war people that don't go to Vietnam and fight the war themselves. This theme, commenting on how most pro-war politicians aren't chomping at the bit to experience combat themselves, and will instead send young men to die for them, shows up often in Phil's anti-war songs.
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this song is used to state all the reasons someone would not be drafted. It lists things that are wrong with someone so they don't need to fight the unnecessary Vietnam War.
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