Madeline Sandhop: The Draft Dodger Rag- Phil Ochs

Ochs performing at a peace rally.

“The point of protest music, or indeed any art with a political dimension, is not to shift the world on its axis but to change opinions and perspectives, to say something about the times in which you live, and, sometimes, to find that what you’ve said speaks to another moment in history.”

- Lynskey

While there are many songs and artists from the 1960s folk and folk-rock movements which are still well known today, at the time Phil Ochs was one of the most prevalent protest musicians of the day. From the hit “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” to the irony filled lyrics of “Draft Dodger Rag” his songs were inspirational for many in the anti war movement.

The anti war movement of the 1960s consisted of a wide range of people, including students from college campuses, as well as members of middle class suburbs, labor unions and government institutions. The movement started small, but became a national concern after the U.S. began bombing North Vietnam in 1965. A great number of Americans could not see the point of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, so naturally they were drawn together in hopes of making a change. With such a wide variety of people involved in this common goal, it makes sense that a musical movement followed in its wake. Music was extremely beneficial for the anti war movement because it gave a voice to what all the protestors were hoping for. Artists like John Lennon, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan were just a few of the well known artists who contributed many popular songs which conveyed the sadness, regret and anger that the American population felt toward the war.

The cover of Ochs' most popular album "I Ain't Marching Anymore"

During the early 60’s and the beginning of the anti war movement, Phil Ochs was just a college kid, but that didn’t keep him from expressing his own views on the war through his often sarcastic lyrics. His song “Draft Dodger Rag” is a perfect example of this:

I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town
I believe in God and Senator Dodd 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 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, my feet are flat, and my asthma's
getting worse
O think of my career, my sweetheart dear, and my poor old
invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a goin' to school, and I'm
working in a defense plant.

In this song, Ochs is conveying the hypocrisy of war supporters by listing excuses people might use to avoid the draft. At the end of the song the duplicity of his character’s words are particularly obvious when he expresses his support of the war, while at the same time saying that he won’t be the one to do any of the fighting necessary to win the war.

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

Despite his short career, Phil Ochs was able to contribute an impressive amount of music to the anti war movement. His performances at countless peace rallies turned out to be especially influential. “In terms of the anti-war movement and the war resistance movement, the song’s appearance coincides with the first of the publicized draft- card burnings related to Vietnam and the start of mass attempts to avoid the draft by seeking Conscientious Objector status and various types of deferments.” (Perone)