An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay

Annotation

Alternative rock artist born 2 October 1974 in Pointe-Claire, Qubec, Canada. Ths song "An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay" (Universal Music Canada # 0249852687), as suggested in the title, is about an American, from Mississippi, who enjoyed life in his home town, "till Vietnam moved next door", so he dodged the draft by going to Canada. The narrator said that his father wanted him to fight: "his father Tom...you'd better take up your gun and fight". But the young man said "got nothing against them Viet Cong, what did they do wrong and why am I right?". Thus taking an anti-war position.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: He was born in a small town / And he was given every reason to stay / Hallelujah, Mississippi, postcard living no sign of decay / Till Vietnam moved next door, then Hallelujah was off to war / In the dream he couldn't finish the deed / He didn't smoke any weed so why leave? / Going where I can't be found / And I won't be coming 'round / His father Tom said you better sign on / You'd better take up your gun and fight / I got nothing against them Viet Cong / What did they do wrong and why am I right? / He's on his way to Thunder Bay / Crossed the border late at night / And it was high stakes until he saw the Great Lakes / And he felt the cold wind bite / Going where I can't be found / And I won't be coming 'round / No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield / And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields / It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood / Missing his home, he would wake up in a cold sweat / And pick up the phone and hope that Tom found a way to forget / He's been teaching at the high school, learning the game / In Thunder Bay we're all the same / He's one of us, he has our trust / But there's no going back once the line is crossed....You can't ask what you're asking me to do / And I hope you understand when I refuse / I'm going North with my point of view / And I'm never gonna think the same as you / And I'm where I can't be found / And I won't be coming 'round

About the artist

Confirmed: "An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay" is a track in the Sam Roberts Band's own catalogue (the band's official Bandcamp/streaming listings). Sam Roberts (born 2 October 1974 in Westmount, Quebec, to South African immigrant parents; raised in Pointe-Claire, Quebec) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter and frontman of the Sam Roberts Band. [Source: Wikipedia; the band's own catalogue listings]

Themes

Draft · VC

In collections

Draft Songs