Fortunate Son (Cover)

Fortunate Son Creedence Clearwater Revival Willy and the Poor Boys Family Friendly Information Released 1969 Genre Southern Rock Source Downloadable song Playable in Rock Band Rock Band 2 Rock Band 3 Rock Band Blitz Lego Rock Band Difficulty Band 1 Basic Pro Guitar 2 2 Bass 2 1 Drums 1 1 Keys NoNo Part NoNo Part Vocals 1 NoNo Part

Details Male singer

"Fortunate Son" is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival which is an antiestablishment song of defiance and blue-collar pride, both anti-Washington and against the Vietnam war. John Fogerty and Doug Clifford were both drafted in 1966 and discharged from the army in 1967.

This is one of 3 political songs on the album. The others were "It Came from the Sky" and "Don't Look Now (It Ain't You or Me)" (Thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL, for above 2)

Richard Nixon was president of the US when group leader John Fogerty wrote this. Fogerty was not a fan of Nixon and felt that people close to the president were receiving preferential treatment.

This spoke out against the war in Vietnam but was supportive of the soldiers fighting there. Like many CCR fans, most of the soldiers came from the working class, and were there because they didn't have connections who could get them out. It is sung from the perspective of one of these men, who ends up fighting because he is not a "Senator's son."

Creedence performed this on The Ed Sullivan Show, probably because the show's producers didn't realize it was a protest song. The show tried hard not to offend anyone, and usually had bands perform their least controversial songs or alter the lyrics for the show (see "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Light My Fire").

Fogerty recorded a lot of takes for "Down on the Corner" before singing this. As a result, his voice was strained, which Fogerty thinks is apparent on the song.

Fogerty wrote this in about 20 minutes.

Like Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.," this is often misinterpreted as a patriotic anthem, when it is the opposite.

Wrangler jeans used this in commercials in 2001. They used only the first 2 lines: "Some folks are born, made to wave the flag, Ooh, that red, white and blue," implying the patriotic misinterpretation. The next lines are: "And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief" Ooh, they're pointin' the cannon at you," but those lyrics would not sell jeans very well.

Fogerty does not own the publishing rights to this. He lost them, along with all the other songs he wrote for CCR, in his contract with Fantasy Records, which the band signed when they were struggling. A guy named Saul Zaentz controls the rights and can use the songs any way he wants, as long as it isn't performed by any member of CCR. Fogerty hates that his song is constantly misused but has no choice.

This has been covered by U2, Bruce Springsteen, Kid Rock, Dropkick Murphys, Sleater-Kinney, Corrosion of Conformity, Minutemen, Uncle Tupelo, Bob Seger, Circle Jerks, Joe Lynn Turner, Bunny Foot Charm, Death Cab for Cutie, Undead, Raccoon, and 38 Special.

When interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine, John Fogerty was once asked: "What inspired 'Fortunate Son'?" His response: "Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war. In 1969, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and like eighty percent of them were in favor of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble." (Thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada, for above 2)

Wyclef Jean's slow, passionate cover of this was the theme song for the 2004 political thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Another popular political film from the summer of '04 was the controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, of which John Fogerty remarked: "With the Michael Moore movie, certain conservative talk show hosts call him un-American. Him and anybody else who says anything about the war... To question your country's policy, especially in a war that kills people, is definitely not un-American. It's probably the most patriotic thing you can do." (Thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada)

This is one of the first protest songs that makes the point that it's the poor who are most likely to fight the wars. During the Iraq war, System of a Down covered this topic with their song "B.Y.O.B.."

United States president George W. Bush is often considered a "Fortunate Son," as he reaped the benefits that came with growing up in a powerful political family, which may have helped him avoid combat. This is covered in a book called Fortunate Son.

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