Fortunate Son

The song “Fortunate Son” by Creedance Clearwater Revival is one of the most iconic anti-war songs of all time.

This e-book covers how this song came to be, what made it popular, and the story behind it.

Enjoy!

The song was released October, 1969 during the peak involvment of the U.S in the highly controversial Vietnam War while the anti-war movement was gaining stregnth in the U.S, written by John Forgety.

It quickly emerged as a rallying cry for the anti-war movement as well as its support for the soldiers on the front lines.

The song has been showcased in various representations of the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement within popular culture (Film, television, video games and literature).

Lets take a look at the lyrics:

In John’s words:
“The thoughts behind this song—it was a lot of anger. So it was the Vietnam War going on. … Now I was drafted and they’re making me fight, and no one has actually defined why. So this was all boiling inside of me and I sat down on the edge of my bed and out came “It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son!” You know, it took about 20 minutes to write the song.”

An all-time popular song (1.2 billion streams on spotify alone!) in 20 minutes sounds insane – however it might surprise you, that its quite common for other hit songs, such as “Your Song” – Elton John and Bernie Taupin:
Elton John’s lifelong lyricist, Bernie Taupin, said he remembers writing “Your Song” on the kitchen table in London.

“It came out in about 20 minutes, and when I was done, I called him in and we both knew”.

As we covered in our previous class discussion, this song originates from genuine emotions – “it was a lot of anger… So this was all boiling inside of me…” This authenticity, I believe, is one of the key factors contributing to its immense success.

Another factor (which we also mentioned in class), I believe, is the incredibly catchy tune and hook that opens the song. Just a few seconds in, and you immediately recognize which song is playing.

An interesting interview with John Forgety about the story of the song:

A very important note we can take from this interview and the songs’ lyrics, It is not explicit in its criticism of that war in particular, rather, it speaks more to the unfairness of class than war itself – this topic, of class unfairness has always been relatable and will always continue to be so.
In my opinion, another big reason as to why this song has found such massive success.

Its quite funny how an anti-war song is so ironically portrayed in todays’ media, check out this clip from Forrest Gump:

This is merely one among numerous instances where the catchy and “badass” tune of the song seems to have transformed its perception over time, making it appear more suitable as a pro-war anthem rather than an anti-war one.

I think nowadays, when people hear this song, they mostly feel hype and excitement rather than anger. I can certainly say the same for myself.

Another great example from War Pigs (watch from 1:33):

Even though the original message behind the song is quite the opposite of its’ current portreyal(AMERICA, WAR, FREEDOM etc..), it still serves as a core message.

In conclusion, this song has a great and catchy tune, super memorable(especially the start), amazing story-telling, geniune emotions and very much relatable for its market audience – Alot of things that make a song a popular song in my opinion.

Hope you enjoyed, heres a funny (and very inappropriate, fair warning!) reference to the song from Family Guy: