The Artist:
The artist of "Fortunate Son" is John Fogerty, the lead singer and guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival, better known as CCR. Fogerty's musical career began when he was in junior high, where he formed a small group called the Blue Velvets with his peers Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, as well as his older brother Tom. Performing in the San Francisco Bay area, the group eventually signed with Fantasy Records, a company in Berkeley, California. Because they had little success, Fogerty and the Blue Velvets changed their name to the Golliwogs the next year, but still could not produce a hit record. After that, a man named Saul Zaentz, who saw success in the groups future, encouraged them to resign with Fantasy Records, but change their names, yet again, in an effort to be recognized. So, they changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival, the next year, and were successful. This success is perhaps due to more experience from the group, as well as their new name. Following the change of their name, they produced many catchy, hit songs, such as "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Lodi," "Green River," and "Commotion," all in the late 1960's. Then, in the 1970's, they wrote more songs, including "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Looking out my Back Door," and "Run through the Jungle," but this time, their songs related to the Vietnam War. Since Fogerty dominated the artistic aspect of the group, his older brother Tom quit in 1971, followed by the other members in 1972, just two years after the breakup of the Beatles.
Musical Influences:
Growing up, John Fogerty liked southern music. He listened to groups like Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf. After his mother found out that he enjoyed this type of music, she introduced him to "Swanee River," a southern song, written by Stephen Foster. Fogerty found El Cerrito, California, where he grew up, to be a boring place, so he decided to listen to southern music instead of music from his region. In addition to his southern influences, he was also influenced by blues and rockabilly artists such as Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. I realized how these influences impacted Fogerty's music after listening to and reading the lyrics of "Fortunate Son." He uses words such as "ain't," which are common in the southern region of the United States. Fogerty's guitarists play southern style chords in the background of his songs, as well.
Song Context:
"Fortunate Son" was written in the late 1960's, during the time of the Vietnam War. This influential song was meant to have a double meaning, just like many songs sung by Bob Dylan, another singer during this time period. First, and obviously, it was an anti-Vietnam War song, but it was also a working class anthem that showed the social class inequalities of those close to President Nixon and the middle class. This indicates that rich children whose parents helped to start the Vietnam War cannot be drafter to the military, and are protected by wealth and privilege. On the other hand, children like Fogerty are middle class and have a strong possibility of being drafted to the military to go to Vietnam's jungles and possibly die in an aimless war against an obstinate foe. "Fortunate Son" was a great song to which people could dance and rock out, unlike some of Bob Dylan's songs. However, it had a very strong influence on its listeners, much like some of Dylan's songs.
Song Analysis:
The main theme of "Fortunate Son" is that children who are rich and born into families that have political power are spoiled, and have an advantage over middle class children. I can determine that this is the theme because Fogerty makes comments throughout the song, such as "Some folks are born to wave the flag," "Some folks are born silver spoon in hand," "...the house looks like a rummage sale," and "Some folks inherit star spangled eyes," characterizing the rich children as spoiled. When Fogerty says "Some folks..." he is referring to rich children, and when he says "...silver spoon..." he most likely means privilege and money. Rich children are meant to represent the whole upper class, an extremely fortunate group which Fogerty resents. Middle class children represent the struggle of the average American in the 1960's. He wants his listeners to feel bad for the middle class children by mentioning how fortunate the upper class is. The social class inequality between the rich and the middle class is a conflict addressed explicitly in this song. Rich children are given whatever they want, whenever they want, and can avoid occurrences experienced by middle class children, such as being drafted to fight in the Vietnam war. I learned that "Fortunate Son" was written during the time of the Vietnam War. I found out that the war was started by rich entrepreneurs, but their children could not get drafted to fight in the war, simply because their fathers had power, which translated to privilege for them. The theme mentioned above is important, because society needs to realize that rich children are given unfair treatment, as a result of their high social class. Towards the end of the song, Fogerty states "It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one," three times, to emphasize this unfairness. I believe that "Fortunate Son" was an extremely influential and thought provoking song.
Words in green have been changed following Mrs. Horton's comments.
The artist of "Fortunate Son" is John Fogerty, the lead singer and guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival, better known as CCR. Fogerty's musical career began when he was in junior high, where he formed a small group called the Blue Velvets with his peers Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, as well as his older brother Tom. Performing in the San Francisco Bay area, the group eventually signed with Fantasy Records, a company in Berkeley, California. Because they had little success, Fogerty and the Blue Velvets changed their name to the Golliwogs the next year, but still could not produce a hit record. After that, a man named Saul Zaentz, who saw success in the groups future, encouraged them to resign with Fantasy Records, but change their names, yet again, in an effort to be recognized. So, they changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival, the next year, and were successful. This success is perhaps due to more experience from the group, as well as their new name. Following the change of their name, they produced many catchy, hit songs, such as "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Lodi," "Green River," and "Commotion," all in the late 1960's. Then, in the 1970's, they wrote more songs, including "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Looking out my Back Door," and "Run through the Jungle," but this time, their songs related to the Vietnam War. Since Fogerty dominated the artistic aspect of the group, his older brother Tom quit in 1971, followed by the other members in 1972, just two years after the breakup of the Beatles.
Musical Influences:
Growing up, John Fogerty liked southern music. He listened to groups like Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf. After his mother found out that he enjoyed this type of music, she introduced him to "Swanee River," a southern song, written by Stephen Foster. Fogerty found El Cerrito, California, where he grew up, to be a boring place, so he decided to listen to southern music instead of music from his region. In addition to his southern influences, he was also influenced by blues and rockabilly artists such as Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. I realized how these influences impacted Fogerty's music after listening to and reading the lyrics of "Fortunate Son." He uses words such as "ain't," which are common in the southern region of the United States. Fogerty's guitarists play southern style chords in the background of his songs, as well.
Song Context:
"Fortunate Son" was written in the late 1960's, during the time of the Vietnam War. This influential song was meant to have a double meaning, just like many songs sung by Bob Dylan, another singer during this time period. First, and obviously, it was an anti-Vietnam War song, but it was also a working class anthem that showed the social class inequalities of those close to President Nixon and the middle class. This indicates that rich children whose parents helped to start the Vietnam War cannot be drafter to the military, and are protected by wealth and privilege. On the other hand, children like Fogerty are middle class and have a strong possibility of being drafted to the military to go to Vietnam's jungles and possibly die in an aimless war against an obstinate foe. "Fortunate Son" was a great song to which people could dance and rock out, unlike some of Bob Dylan's songs. However, it had a very strong influence on its listeners, much like some of Dylan's songs.
Song Analysis:
The main theme of "Fortunate Son" is that children who are rich and born into families that have political power are spoiled, and have an advantage over middle class children. I can determine that this is the theme because Fogerty makes comments throughout the song, such as "Some folks are born to wave the flag," "Some folks are born silver spoon in hand," "...the house looks like a rummage sale," and "Some folks inherit star spangled eyes," characterizing the rich children as spoiled. When Fogerty says "Some folks..." he is referring to rich children, and when he says "...silver spoon..." he most likely means privilege and money. Rich children are meant to represent the whole upper class, an extremely fortunate group which Fogerty resents. Middle class children represent the struggle of the average American in the 1960's. He wants his listeners to feel bad for the middle class children by mentioning how fortunate the upper class is. The social class inequality between the rich and the middle class is a conflict addressed explicitly in this song. Rich children are given whatever they want, whenever they want, and can avoid occurrences experienced by middle class children, such as being drafted to fight in the Vietnam war. I learned that "Fortunate Son" was written during the time of the Vietnam War. I found out that the war was started by rich entrepreneurs, but their children could not get drafted to fight in the war, simply because their fathers had power, which translated to privilege for them. The theme mentioned above is important, because society needs to realize that rich children are given unfair treatment, as a result of their high social class. Towards the end of the song, Fogerty states "It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one," three times, to emphasize this unfairness. I believe that "Fortunate Son" was an extremely influential and thought provoking song.
Words in green have been changed following Mrs. Horton's comments.
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