Fortunate Son Analysis Essay

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"Fortunate Son" is a song sung by the San Francisco Bay Area group Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was unshackled from the album Willy and the Poor Boys in 1969 at the very height of the Haight-Ashbury 60’s Make Love Not War peace movement, the Vietnam war, and mass demonstration era. It is considered one of the greatest protest songs of all time. The song begins with Doug Clifford’s straightforward drums, almost military in nature, but as the beat pushes forward, it carries the tempo of the song with it. Enter Tom Fogerty’s guitar, also a simple two chord movement, but this creates the perfect backdrop for John Fogerty’s gravelly, unbridled vocals which are both telling and passionate. Immediately attacking the song with verve, the tune tells…show more content…
It ain't me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no" is beyond blatant, it’s an insult to the privileged children of political authority. Declaring that the sons of the leaders were not the ones selected to kill, suffer and die in Vietnam, the first step of the Blues Impulse is clearly acknowledged. In his position he has recognized his hopeless ire at being called to war merely simply from birth. His use of crass language (“ain’t” instead of “it is not me” and “No senator’s son” instead of “a” senator’s son) is used to perfection in connecting with the lower…show more content…
In fact, he wails vigorously, "Some folks are born silver spoon in hand” again bombarding the rich and polishing them off with, “Lord, don't they help themselves, y'all.” Going for the jugular, Fogerty fulfills the second of the Blues Impulses by finding his voice to express his wounds and outrage by “jawing” with the common folk, not talking at them, but with them as if having a conversation on the front porch, the stanza itself is acidicly explanatory. He continues, "But when the taxman comes to the door, Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale." Yet again, a brutal charge against the rich, there is no insinuation here. He simply states that when it comes to generosity, the millionaires of the country will stoop to deceit and cry foul to evade their duty to share a single penny. Not only that, they are playing it both ways by giving nothing, including a duty to the country that made them rich to begin with, while the poor die in the jungles of Vietnam. After a second dose of the chorus, Fogerty explains "Some folks inherit star spangled eyes," is a trouble-free loyalty as well, another benefit that the "fortunate sons" receive along with easy lives, mansions, and draft deferments. It’s a wonderful simile that brings to mind a thoughtless expression of patriotism on the faces of the

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