Fortunate Son (song)
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| “Fortunate Son” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Creedence Clearwater Revival | |||||
| Album | Willy and the Poor Boys | ||||
| Released | November 2, 1969 | ||||
| Recorded | Fall 1969 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 2:21 | ||||
| Label | Fantasy | ||||
| Writer | John Fogerty | ||||
| Producer | John Fogerty | ||||
| Willy and the Poor Boys track listing | |||||
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"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.[1] 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).[2]
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 he performs a song called "I Can't Take It No More," which he wrote to be the song that comes after "Fortunate Son."[citation needed]
[edit] 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.
[edit] Use in other media
The song was used without Fogerty's permission (Galaxy owns the rights) for a Wrangler Jeans ad campaign. This has greatly angered many Creedence fans, as the ad uses only the patriotic-sounding first line of the song ("Some folks are born, made to wave the flag, ooh, they're red, white, and blue") along with stereotypically patriotic footage, inverting the intended meaning of the song.
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
It can be heard in the films Live Free or Die Hard, Forrest Gump, Platoon and Dale.
A cover of the song is available as downloadable content for the music video game Rock Band.
[edit] References
- ^ Creedence Clearwater Revival
- ^ http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/fortunate.asp The story behind the lyrics and the identity of the "Fortunate Son"
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