phil ochs
Once upon a time in the east there was a war ... well, there still is, here and there. But this one led to anti-war motions and pacifist demonstrations throughout the whole world, to an extent never seen before. Singers and musicians of all kinds gathered in protest, and hundreds of songs issued from this. A few of them are included with my album; among them this humoristic one about how to dodge the whole rotten war ... from Phil Ochs' 1965 Elektra album "I Ain't Marching anymore", but first released by Mitchell Trio, September 1964.
now I'm just a typical american boy from a typical american town
I believe in God and in senator Dodd and in 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've got a ruptured spleen and I always carry a purse
I've got eyes like a bat and my feet are flat and my asthma's getting worse
yes I think of my career and my sweetheart dear and my old poor invalide aunt
besides I ain't no fool : I'm a-going to school and I'm working in a dee-fence plant
I've got a dislocated disc and a wracked up back • I'm allergic to flowers and bugs
and when the bombshells hit I get epileptic fits and I'm addicted to a thousand drugs
I've got the weakness woes • I can't touch my toes • I can hardly reach my knees
and if the enemy came close to see I would probably start to sneeze
oh I hate Chou-en-Lai and I hope he dies but one thing you gotta see
is that someone 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 I'll be the first to go!
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G A7 oh I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town D G I believe in God and Senator Dodd and a-keepin' old Castro down G A7 and when it came my time to serve I knew better dead than red D G but when I got to my old draft board buddy this is what I said:
