Draft Dodger Rag - wikipedia Draft Dodger Rag `` Draft Dodger Rag '' Song by Phil Ochs from the album I Ai n't Marching Anymore Published 1964 Released 1965 Genre Protest song, folk Length 2 : 07 Label Elektra Songwriter ( s ) Phil Ochs Producer ( s ) Jac Holzman `` The Draft Dodger Rag '' Single by Pete Seeger from the album Dangerous Songs ! ? B - side `` Guantanamera '' Released 1966 Format Vinyl Genre Country folk Length 2 : 10 Label Columbia Songwriter ( s ) Phil Ochs Pete Seeger singles chronology `` Healing River '' ( 1965 ) `` The Draft Dodger Rag '' ( 1966 ) `` Waist Deep in the Big Muddy '' ( 1967 ) `` Healing River '' ( 1965 ) `` The Draft Dodger Rag ( 1966 ) `` Waist Deep in the Big Muddy '' ( 1967 ) `` Draft Dodger Rag '' is a satirical anti-war song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer from the 1960s known for being a harsh critic of the American military industrial complex. Originally released on his 1965 album, I Ai n't Marching Anymore, `` Draft Dodger Rag '' quickly became an anthem of the anti-Vietnam War movement. Ochs wrote `` Draft Dodger Rag '' as American involvement in the Vietnam War was beginning to grow. The song is sung from the perspective of a gung - ho young man who has been drafted. When he reports for duty, however, the young man recites a list of reasons why he ca n't serve, including poor vision, flat feet, a ruptured spleen, allergies and asthma, back pain, addiction to multiple drugs, his college enrollment, his disabled aunt, and the fact that he carries a purse. ( One historian of the draft resistance movement wrote that Ochs `` described nearly every available escape from conscription ''. ) As the song ends, the young man tells the sergeant that he 'll be the first to volunteer for `` a war without blood or gore ''. `` Draft Dodger Rag '' was the first prominent satirical song about the draft during the Vietnam War. One writer says its humor can be appreciated on its own level, without respect to the political message of the song. Another says it added `` much - needed humour '' to the protest song genre. Ochs wrote of the song : In Vietnam, a 19 - year - old Vietcong soldier screams that Americans should leave his country as he is shot by a government firing squad. His American counterpart meanwhile is staying up nights thinking up ways to deceptively destroy his health, mind, or virility to escape two years in a relatively comfortable army. Free enterprise strikes again. Ochs performed `` Draft Dodger Rag '' in 1965 on a CBS Evening News television special Avoiding the Draft, one of the rare instances in which he appeared on a national American television broadcast. The Smothers Brothers On November 19, 1967, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour featured the Smothers Brothers and actor George Segal singing `` Draft Dodger Rag ''. Dick Smothers introduced the song by saying it was about a `` great effort '' some young American men were making. Tom Smothers added that the song was about a problem and how it was being solved with `` good old American ingenuity ''. They ended the song by proclaiming `` Make love, not war ! '' Cover versions Several performers beside the Smothers Brothers have covered `` Draft Dodger Rag '', including the Chad Mitchell Trio, The Four Preps, Kind of Like Spitting, Tom Paxton, David Rovics, and Pete Seeger. Seeger 's version was released as a single. See also Draft dodger List of anti-war songs References Jump up ^ Perone, James E. ( 2004 ). Music of the Counterculture Era. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. p. 40. ISBN 0 - 313 - 32689 - 4. ^ Jump up to : Dean, Maury ( 2003 ). Rock ' n ' Roll Gold Rush : A Singles Un-Cyclopedia. New York : Algora Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 0 - 87586 - 207 - 1. ^ Jump up to : Foley, Michael S. ( 2003 ). Confronting the War Machine : Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War. Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina Press. pp. 72 -- 73. ISBN 0 - 8078 - 5436 - 0. Jump up ^ Ochs, Phil ( 1964 ). Songs of Phil Ochs. New York : Appleseed Music. p. 11. OCLC 41480512. Jump up ^ Perone, James E. ( 2001 ). Songs of the Vietnam Conflict. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. p. 29. ISBN 0 - 313 - 31528 - 0. Jump up ^ Perone. Songs of the Vietnam Conflict. p. 90. Jump up ^ Simmonds, Jeremy ( 2008 ) ( 2006 ). The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars : Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches. Chicago : Chicago Review Press. p. 87. ISBN 1 - 55652 - 754 - 3. Jump up ^ Ochs, Phil ( 1965 ). I Ai n't Marching Anymore ( Media notes ). Elektra. EKL - 287 / EKS - 7287. Jump up ^ Cohen, David ( 1999 ). Phil Ochs : A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. p. 232. ISBN 0 - 313 - 31029 - 7. Jump up ^ Schumacher, Michael ( 1996 ). There But for Fortune : The Life of Phil Ochs. New York : Hyperion. p. 179. ISBN 0 - 7868 - 6084 - 7. Jump up ^ Bodroghkozy, Aniko ( 2001 ). Groove Tube : Sixties Television and the Youth Rebellion. Durham, N.C. : Duke University Press. pp. 127 -- 128. ISBN 0 - 8223 - 2645 - 0. Jump up ^ Cohen, Phil Ochs, pp. 278, 285, 286. Jump up ^ Spotlight Singles. Billboard. July 9, 1966. p. 16. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Phil Ochs Discography Studio albums All the News That 's Fit to Sing I Ai n't Marching Anymore Pleasures of the Harbor Tape from California Rehearsals for Retirement Greatest Hits Live albums Phil Ochs in Concert Gunfight at Carnegie Hall There and Now : Live in Vancouver 1968 Live at Newport Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace Posthumous releases Sings for Broadside A Toast to Those Who Are Gone The Broadside Tapes 1 The Early Years On My Way Posthumous compilations Chords of Fame The War Is Over : The Best of Phil Ochs There but for Fortune Farewells & Fantasies American Troubadour 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection : The Best of Phil Ochs Cross My Heart : An Introduction to Phil Ochs Other albums The Campers : Camp Favorites Interviews with Phil Ochs Singles `` I Ai n't Marching Anymore '' `` Cross My Heart '' `` Outside of a Small Circle of Friends '' `` The War Is Over '' `` My Life '' `` One Way Ticket Home '' `` Kansas City Bomber '' `` Bwatue '' `` Power and the Glory '' Other songs `` Crucifixion '' `` Draft Dodger Rag '' `` Love Me, I 'm a Liberal '' `` There but for Fortune '' List of songs recorded by Phil Ochs Documentaries Chords of Fame ( 1984 ) Phil Ochs : There but for Fortune ( 2011 ) Tributes Get Your Phil Learn : The Songs of Phil Ochs Poison Ochs : A Tribute to Phil Ochs This Is Absolutely Real : Visions and Versions of Phil Ochs What 's That I Hear ? : The Songs of Phil Ochs List of cover versions Related Archives Jim Glover Michael Ochs ( brother ) Robyn Ochs ( niece ) Sonny Ochs ( sister ) Pigasus Pete Seeger Studio albums American Folk Songs for Children God Bless the Grass Dangerous Songs ! ? Rainbow Race At 89 Pete Remembers Woody Live albums We Shall Overcome Songs `` The Bells of Rhymney '' `` God 's Counting on Me, God 's Counting on You '' `` Gotta Travel On '' `` If I Had a Hammer '' `` If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus '' `` Little Boxes '' `` My Rainbow Race '' `` Pittsburgh Town '' `` Turn ! Turn ! Turn ! '' `` Waist Deep in the Big Muddy `` We Shall Overcome '' `` Where Have All the Flowers Gone ? '' Almanac Singers Songs for John Doe Talking Union Deep Sea Chanteys and Whaling Ballads Sod Buster Ballads Songs of the Lincoln Battalion Dear Mr. President The Weavers The Weavers at Carnegie Hall The Weavers at Carnegie Hall Vol. 2 The Weavers : Was n't That a Time ! Other Precious Friend ( with Arlo Guthrie ) Related Discography People 's Songs Rainbow Quest Sing Out ! Pete Seeger : The Power of Song Hudson River Sloop Clearwater The Great Hudson River Revival We Shall Overcome : The Seeger Sessions Family Toshi Seeger ( wife ) Mika Seeger ( daughter ) Tao Rodríguez - Seeger ( grandson ) Charles Seeger ( father ) Ruth Crawford Seeger ( stepmother ) Mike Seeger ( half - brother ) Peggy Seeger ( half - sister ) Alan Seeger ( uncle ) Ewan MacColl ( brother - in - law ) John Cohen ( brother - in - law ) Kirsty MacColl ( stepniece ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft_Dodger_Rag&oldid=820048380 '' Categories : 1964 songs 1966 singles Anti-war songs Phil Ochs songs Pete Seeger songs Songs written by Phil Ochs Songs of the Vietnam War Song recordings produced by Jac Holzman Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by John Hammond ( producer ) Satirical songs Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Talk About Wikipedia Français Edit links This page was last edited on 12 January 2018, at 19 : 58. 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Question: who wrote the anti-war song draft dodge rag
Answer: Phil Ochs