{"id":540909,"date":"2026-07-14T12:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/540909\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T12:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:03:16","slug":"fortunate-son-by-creedence-clearwater-revival-the-story-behind-the-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/540909\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival: The Story Behind The Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

1969 was a monumental year for Creedence Clearwater Revival<\/a>. The band had already scored two platinum-selling albums and a trio of massive hits \u2013 Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising and Green River \u2013 by the time Fortunate Son was released in September. However, unlike most of their repertoire, which tended to fetishise the rural American South, Fortunate Son was a burning commentary on class and elitism, delivered against the sulphurous backdrop of the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was mad at the spectre of the ordinary kid who had to serve in an army in a war that he was very much against,\u201d explained CCR songwriter and frontman John Fogerty<\/a>. \u201cYet the sons of the well-to-do and powerful didn\u2019t have to worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The frontman barks out the verses with a vigour born of contempt: \u2018Some folks inherit stars-pangled eyes\/They send you down to war, Lord\/And when you ask them, \u2018How much should we give?\u2019\/They only answer, \u2018More! More! More!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

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Fogerty had a specific person in mind when he wrote the song: David Eisenhower, grandson of former US President Dwight D Eisenhower. In late 1968, the younger Eisenhower had married Julie Nixon, daughter of President-elect Richard Nixon, in a lavish ceremony in New York. Fogerty saw their union as a metaphor for the social and political divisions of the countercultural era.<\/p>\n

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son – YouTube
\n\"Creedence<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019d hear about the son of this senator or that congressman who was given a deferment from the military or a choice position in the military,\u201d he wrote in his 2015 memoir, Fortunate Son. \u201cThey seemed privileged, and whether they liked it or not, these people were symbolic in the sense that they weren\u2019t being touched by what their parents were doing. They weren\u2019t being affected like the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“I went into the bedroom, sat on the edge of my bed with a yellow legal tablet and my felt-tipped pen. Out came the song. ‘It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son.’ I was screaming inside, very intense, but not saying a word. Out it came, onto three sheets of legal paper.”<\/p>\n

The song is all the more powerful for its sheer simplicity. Lasting less than two-and-a-half minutes, Fortunate Son opens with a two-note guitar twang and hurtles along with only a short pause for air.<\/p>\n

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The wracked intensity of Fogerty\u2019s voice, already shot from recording Down On The Corner earlier that day, perfectly captures the rage and frustration at the heart of his subject matter. The chorus is an unbridled howl of protest: \u201cIt ain\u2019t me, it ain\u2019t me\/I ain\u2019t no military son\/It ain\u2019t me, it ain\u2019t me\/I ain\u2019t no fortunate one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son (Live At The Royal Albert Hall) – YouTube
\n\"Creedence<\/p>\n

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Peaking at No.3 in the US in December 1969, a month after Nixon had appeared on television calling for national unity over the conflict in Southeast Asia, Fortunate Son only served to highlight the widening schisms in America.<\/p>\n

It still does, more than half a century later, with the current presidential incumbent playing Fortunate Son at his rallies, most likely oblivious to the song\u2019s meaning. In 2020, Fogerty issued a cease-and-desist notice, happily drawing attention to the President’s five draft deferments.<\/p>\n

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“Years and years ago, I remember saying something about, \u2018Richard Nixon, man, he is a source of endless inspiration'”, Fogerty told Classic Rock. “I could probably say the same about Mr Trump. I wonder, where are all the other creative writers? I mean, come on, you guys and gals, get out there! There\u2019s a whole lot to write about here.”<\/p>\n

In 2025, in an interview with Vulture,<\/a> Fogerty went further and singled out Fortunate Son as his ‘most misunderstood song’.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s misunderstood by a small percentage of people – people who seem to be conservative, right-wing, and probably Republican or some other ‘ism’ in that category,” said Fogerty. “And most notably by Mr Trump. It\u2019s happened before where people thought it was a patriotic ditty to wave the flag and all that, not really understanding the cynicism and absolute defiance I had in the song.<\/p>\n

“I mean, even if you don\u2019t hear the rest of it, you should at least hear, ‘It ain\u2019t me, I ain\u2019t no fortunate son’. But if you don\u2019t, then I guess you\u2019re able to see the song in a different way.”<\/p>\n

John Fogerty & Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) – “Fortunate Son” on Jimmy Kimmel! – YouTube
\n\"John<\/p>\n

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Fortunate Son’s place in history is secure. In 2014, it was added to the Library Of Congress’s National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”<\/p>\n

Like any significant song, it’s been covered. By U2, Bob Seger, Clutch, Corrosion Of Conformity, Foo Fighters (with Fogerty), Santana, D.O.A., Minutemen, Bruce Springsteen, Circle Jerks, Joe Lynn Turner and dozens more.<\/p>\n

And in 2025, Fogerty rerecorded Fortunate Son for his Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years collection, the album he made to celebrate regaining his publishing rights after half a century of legal battles. It was the final track on the album, still an emphatic, ever-visceral smackdown to those who abuse privilege.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1969 was a monumental year for Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band had already scored two platinum-selling albums and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-540909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}