DESCRIPTION:
Cover of Phil Ochs song. Vietnam War songs: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/JBrummer/vietnam_war_song_project/
A satirical anti-war song that became an anthem of the peace movement in the 1960s, it reached a more mainstream audience than other contemporary folk anti-war tracks, and several artists covered the song (although it made little commercial impact). In the lyrics, Ochs listed every conceivable excuse available for somebody to avoid the draft. But firstly, it started with a young man expressing his hate of communism: "I knew better dead than red", and thus his patriotism:

"I'm just a typical American boy from a typical American town
I believe in God and Senator Dodd and an keepin' old Castro down
And when it came my time to serve I knew better dead than red"

But when the draftee gets to the draftboard, the excuses started to pour out - drug addiction, enrollment in full-time education, a full-time carer for his disabled aunt, asthma, allergies, poor eyesight, and the suggestion of being a homosexual ("I always carry a purse"). At the end, the draftee re-affirmed his hate of the communists, hoping that Chou En Lai would die (the Premier of the People's Republic of China, 1949-1976). However, he only wanted to go to "a war without any gore".

"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
My asthma's getting worse
Consider my career, my sweetheart dear
My poor old invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, and I'm goin' to school
And I'm workin' in a defense plant
I've got a dislocated disc and a racked 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 hate Chou En Lai, and I hope he dies but I think you gotta see
That if someone's gotta go over there, that someone isn't me...
And if you ever get a war without any gore
Well, I'll be the first to go".