Fortunate Son

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Fortunate Son

• By Creedence Clearwater Revival
• By Riley Stout

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Some folks are born made to wave the flag,ooh,
they're red, white and blue.And when the band
plays "Hail To The Chief",oh, they point the
cannon at you, Lord,It ain't me, it ain't me,I
ain't no senator's son,It ain't me, it ain't
me,I ain't no fortunate one, no,
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Some folks are born silver spoon  in hand,Lord,
don't they help themselves? oh.But when the
taxman come to the door,Lord, the house look a
like a rummage sale, yes, It ain't me, it ain't
me,I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no.It
ain't me, it ain't me,I ain't no fortunate one,
no.
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Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,ooh,
they send you down to war, Lord,And when you ask
them, how much should we give, oh, they only
answer, more, more, more, yoh,
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It ain't me, it ain't me,I ain't no military
son, SON, NOIt ain't me, it ain't me,I ain't no
fortunate one, NOIt ain't me, it ain't me,I
ain't no fortunate one, no no no,It ain't me, it
ain't me,I ain't no fortunate son, so
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Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater
Revival was an American Rock band that gained
popularity in the 60s and 70s. John Fogerty,
Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook were all born in the
same year of 1945, and they met each other in
middle school in El Cerrito, California. They
began playing instruments together, and they
called themselves The Blue Velvets. They had a
fourth member who happened to be John Fogertys
older brother. His name was Tom, and he was
three years older than John. The group disbanded
for a while when in 1966 John Fogerty and Doug
Clifford were drafted for the Vietnam War. John
enlisted in the Army Reserve, and Doug went to
the US Coast Guard. In 1970, CCR was at their
peak, and they traveled around the country doing
performances in numerous environments. In 1971,
Tom Fogerty left CCR permanently, and after Tom
left the band started to go downhill. CCR
disbanded in 1972, and they never reunited, but
Stu Cook and Doug Clifford started the band
Creedence Clearwater Revisited. (Creedence
Online).
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Hail to the Chief
Hail to the Chief is a song played with the
appearance of the President of the United States
at any formal or public appearances. The United
States Marine Band and other military bands
usually perform this song with the arrival of
the President. I believe that the in text
reference towards Hail to the Chief means that
people are chosen to serve in the military.
These people have no choice, and they are forced
to serve. Many people during the Vietnam War
didnt like the idea of war, and protested
serving in it. (Hail to the Chief)
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Senators Son
The song was written in the perspective of
working class who were drafted, but they didnt
want to go to war. Many of the men in the
working class went to war, because they didnt
have connections who could get them out of the
war. The song states that these men couldnt get
out of the war, because they were not a son of a
senator. Many critics of the Vietnam War say
that former President George Bush was a perfect
example of this. According to some critics,
George Bush never went to Vietnam, because of his
father being a politician in the federal
government. (Fortunate Son by Creedence)
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Hyperbole
A hyperbole is a literary term that shows
exaggeration in some way. For example, Some
folks are born with silver spoon in hand, no
one is born with a silver spoon in their hand.
Silver spoon in hand usually is in relevance with
people who are very wealthy. For the most part,
most of it is inherited meaning that some people
do nothing and are gifted with great wealth.
This is another example of the writers being
critical towards the Vietnam War. Only the rich
and wealthy can get out of the war which is
unconstitutional.
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Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of a the same of the
same word or phrase at the beginning of
consecutive clauses, lines, or sentences.
Anaphora is usually used to show emphasis on a
particular phrase or word in a song. In this
song, it aint is repeated at the beginning of
each line for several stanzas. The writer is
trying to show emphasis on people not wanting to
go to war or not being a senators son during the
period of the Vietnam War.
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Simile
Similes are comparison between two things that
are not alike by using the words like or as.
Authors usually use similes to make their writing
more interesting or entertaining. In this song,
it compares a house to a rummage sale. A house
is a place where people live and store their
belongings. A rummage sale is a sale of objects
contributed by donors to raise money for a
charity, or it could be a sale of unclaimed or
excess goods. A house and a rummage sale are not
similar but they have a connection and they are
joined together by like or as making that
sentence a simile.
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Millionaires Son
During the Vietnam War, there were several ways
for young males to avoid the war. One way was by
being the son of a politician. Another way
during that time period would have been to be a
son of a millionaire. Money can do many things
in our world, but they can either be bad or good.
Many young males avoided going to Vietnam,
because of their rich parents or relatives. The
relatives of these boys may have paid the
government more taxes, or their relatives had
connections with powerful politicians. Some
wealthy families didnt do this they believed
that their children who have to go to war like
every other child instead of receiving a special
treatment.
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Theme
The theme of this song was the negative attitude
towards the Vietnam War and the draft. Two of
the musicians in the band, that played this song
were drafted, and their feelings were displayed
in this song. This song was anthem for
Americans in the late 1960s who thought that the
Vietnam War was a great mistake. Fortunate Son
was anti-Vietnam protest song, and it was
strongly against the political establishment of
the 1960s. The musicians stated that the song
was unconstitutional, because protesting is legal
and that is what the song was all about. I think
that the last stanza of the song represents the
theme the best. It states that it aint me, I
aint no senators son, meaning that he doesnt
want to go to war, and he cant avoid it, because
he is not a senators son. (Fortunate Son meaning)
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They send you down to war
In the first several years of the Vietnam War,
the American public supported the war effort. As
the war dragged out, it seemed that the United
States didnt move any closer to victory. In
1960, the United States had a few thousand troops
in Vietnam, but eight years later in 1968, there
were about 500,000 troops located in the Vietnam
conflict. As the United States government sent
more men down to war the support for the war
effort of the American people began to decrease.
Many of the people that were against the war were
college students, hippies, and pacifists. As the
war went on, middle-class families began to go
against the war and protest. Many of the young
men drafted burned their draft cards in protest.
(Vietnam War)
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Repetition
Repetition is a word or phrase that is repeated
within a sentence. Repetition can be anywhere in
the line of a song or poem which is different
from an anaphora. Anaphora is at the beginning
of a line where repetition can be anywhere.
The reason for using repetition is the same as
Anaphora. It is to show emphasis on a word or a
group words in the poem or song. In Fortunate
Son, more is repeated three times in the same
sentence. The writer is trying to display
emphasis on the greed of the government, and that
they dont care about the welfare of the ordinary
person.(Burton)
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Military Son
The were several ways to avoid going to Vietnam.
One way would be if your father was a politician
, and another way would be if your family was
very wealthy. Also, being a military son could
get a young male out of the war. A military
leader could decide he doesnt want his son going
to war, because then there would be no male in
the family if he and his son died. If they both
died, then that family would be devastated. So
that would be another way to avoid the draft or
going to Vietnam. Sometimes, military leaders
would want their sons to go to war, so they can
experience what their fathers had gone through to
get where they are. So being a military son
wouldnt always get a young male out of the war.
David D. Eisenhower inspired this song, because
his grandfather was a great war general , and
David didnt have to go to war. (Mikkelson and
Mikkelson)
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Fortunate One
Being a military son, senators son, or a
millionaires son were not the only ways to avoid
going to Vietnam. High school seniors who had
already gotten into college would not be drafted
or forced to serve in Vietnam. Fathers of
newborn children wouldnt be forced to serve in
Vietnam either so they can take care of their new
child. After a decade, the government began to
enforce rules that were more strict. Some people
who got accepted to college ended up going to
Vietnam anyway.
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Citations
Anaphora. Anaphora. BYU, n.d. Web. 30 May 2010.
lthttp//rhetoric.byu.edu/?figures/?a/?anaphora.htm
gt. Burton, Gideon. Figures of Repetition. BYU
Rhetoric. N.p., 12 Dec. 2006. Web. 31 May 2010.
lthttp//rhetoric.byu.edu/?figures/?groupings/?of2
0repetition.htmgt. College Acceptance. N.d. Smart
College Planning. N.p., Dec. 2009. Web. 31 May
2010. ltsmartcollegeplanning.org/?2009/?12/gt. Cree
dence Online. N.p., 2010. Web. 13 May 2010.
lthttp//creedence-online.net/?historygt. David
Eisenhower. N.d. Newswise. N.p., 2008. Web. 31
May 2010. ltwww.newswise.com/?articles/?david-eisen
hower-gr...gt. Fortunate Son by Creedence
Clearwater Revival. Song Facts. N.p., May 2010.
Web. 13 May 2010. lthttp//www.songfacts.com/?detai
l.phpgt. Fortunate Son meaning. Shmoop Beta.
N.p., 2010. Web. 30 May 2010. lthttp//www.shmoop.c
om/?fortunate-son/?meaning.htmlgt. gt.
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Citations

• George Bush. N.d. Scrape TV. N.p., n.d. Web. 31
  May 2010. ltscrapetv.com/?News/?News20Pages/?Polit
  ics/?pagesgt.
• Hail to the chief. Community Audio. N.p., Mar.
  2001. Web. 30 May 2010. lthttp//www.archive.org/?d
  etails/?HailtotheChief_482gt.
• Hail to the Chief. N.d. Lori Ferber Presidential
  Memorabilia. Web. 31 May 2010. ltwww.loriferber.com
  /?.../?hail-to-the-chief.htmlgt.
• Mikkelson, David P., and Barbara P. Mikkelson.
  Fortunate Son. Snopes. N.p., 15 Aug. 2006. Web.
  31 May 2010. lthttp//www.snopes.com/?music/?songs/
  ?fortunate.aspgt.
• Money. N.d. Giant Robot. N.p., 12 Nov. 2008. Web.
  31 May 2010. ltwww.giantrobot.com/?.../?2008_11_01_
  archive.htmlgt.
• Ramble Tamble. Pentangle. N.p., 2007. Web. 31
  May 2010.
• Silver spoon. Wikipedia. N.p., Dec. 2008. Web.
  30 May 2010. lthttp//www.wikipedia.org/?wiki/?Silv
  er_spoongt.
• Similes. English Basics. N.p., 22 Mar. 1999.
  Web. 30 May 2010. lthttp//rhschool.comgt.
• Vietnam Protest. N.d. Boomers Life. N.p., n.d.
  Web. 31 May 2010. ltwww.boomerslife.org/?anti-war_v
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• Vietnam War. Digital History. N.p., n.d. Web.
  30 May 2010.