Fortunate Son (song)

Song infobox
Name = Fortunate Son


Artist = Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album = Willy and the Poor Boys
Released = November 2, 1969
track_no = 6
Recorded = Fall 1969
Genre = Rock
Length = 2:21
Label = Fantasy
Writer = John Fogerty
Producer = John Fogerty
prev = "Feelin' Blue"
prev_no = 5
next = "Don't Look Now"
next_no = 7"Fortunate Son" is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival on their album "Willy and the Poor Boys" in 1969. It was released as a single, together with "Down on the Corner," in September 1969. [http://www3.telus.net/60smusic/ccr.html Creedence Clearwater Revival ] ] This song reached #14 on the United States charts.

John Fogerty says that the song was indirectly inspired by David Eisenhower, the grandson of President Dwight David Eisenhower who married Julie Nixon, the daughter of President Richard Nixon in 1968 (Eisenhower later enlisted in the Navy Reserve).http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/fortunate.asp The story behind the lyrics and the identity of the "Fortunate Son"]

This song was popular during the Vietnam War and is included in several Vietnam films and computer games. The song symbolizes the thoughts of a man who is being drafted. This spoke out against the war in Vietnam. It is sung from the perspective of one of these men (who is not the son of a Senator, millionaire, or military leader, thus not a "fortunate son"), who ends up fighting in the Vietnam War.

Fogerty performed the song in front of President Bill Clinton and a national TV audience on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the "America's Millennium" show on December 31, 1999.

"Rolling Stone" ranked the song #99 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

On Fogerty's 2007 album "Revival", the song "I Can't Take It No More," which speaks out against the Iraq War, implicitly links the Iraq and Vietnam wars by referring to George W. Bush as a fortunate son.

Cover versions

The song has since been recorded or notably performed by Bob Seger (receiving substantial album-oriented rock airplay in 1986), Pearl Jam, U2, Sleater-Kinney, Corrosion of Conformity, The Dropkick Murphys, .38 Special, Circle Jerks, Kid Rock, and Bruce Springsteen (in concert, both on his own over the years and in collaboration with Fogerty during the 2004 Vote for Change shows) among others. Australian band The Screaming Jets recorded a cover of "Fortunate Son" and released it as a B-side to their 1996 single, "Sacrifice". Wyclef Jean's cover of the song was played over the beginning and ending credits of "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004). Sleater-Kinney also performed a cover of the song, which they dedicated to George W. Bush, during the WedRock benefit concert on April 28, 2004. That version also appeared on the subsequent live album release. Ivan Neville recorded an all-star funk version on the benefit album Our New Orleans following the Katrina-related flooding in 2005. American pop punk band Fenix*TX also included a live version of "Fortunate Son" on their 2005 album "Purple Reign in Blood". My Chemical Romance are also known to play a version of "Fortunate Son" in their 2007 Black Parade Tour. Pro surfer Donavon Frankenreiter performs a slow acoustic version of the song on his 2007 EP "Recycled Recipes".

Use in other media

The song was used in a Wrangler Jeans ad campaign.Baker, Bob. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/01/DD223445.DTL "Fogerty to Wrangler: Song in ad 'ain't me'"] . "San Francisco Chronicle". November 1, 2002. Retrieved September 26, 2008.] Creedence's record label, Fantasy Records, owns the rights to the song and sold Wrangler the right to use the song. Fogerty is angry that Wrangler has used an exerpt of the song out of context in order to convey a patriotic feeling; the song is actually about privilege and hypocrisy.

EA games has also used the track in the game "Battlefield Vietnam".

The song is played during Jamie Thomas's part in the skate video "Zero New Blood"

The song is played during one of Ron Paul's ads.

It can be heard in the films "Live Free or Die Hard", "Forrest Gump", "Prefontaine", "Platoon" and "Dale".

A cover of the song is available as content available for download for the music video game "Rock Band".

References