By: Creedence Clearwater Revival
By: Riley Stout
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,
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.
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,
It ain't me, it ain't
me,
I ain't no military son,
SON, NO
It ain't me, it ain't
me,
I ain't no fortunate
one, NO
It 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
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American Rock band
that gained popularity in the 60’s and 70’s. 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
Fogerty’s 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).
Previous
“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 didn’t like
the idea of war, and protested serving in it.
(“Hail to the Chief”)
Previous
The song was written in the perspective of
working class who were drafted, but they didn’t
want to go to war. Many of the men in the
working class went to war, because they didn’t
have connections who could get them out of the
war. The song states that these men couldn’t
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”)
Previous
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.
Previous
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 ain’t” 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 senator’s son
during the period of the Vietnam War.
Previous
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.
Previous
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 didn’t do this they believed that their
children who have to go to war like every
other child instead of receiving a special
treatment.
Previous
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 1960’s 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 1960’s. 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 ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s
son”, meaning that he doesn’t want to go to war, and he can’t avoid it,
because he is not a senator’s son. (Fortunate Son meaning)
Previous
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 didn’t 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”)
Previous
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 don’t care about
the welfare of the ordinary person.(Burton)
Previous
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
doesn’t 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 wouldn’t 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 didn’t have to go to war. (“Mikkelson
Previous
Being a military son, senator’s son, or a
millionaire’s 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 wouldn’t 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.
Previous
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<http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/a/anaphora.htm>.
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31 May 2010. <http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/groupings/of%20repetition.htm>.
College Acceptance. N.d. Smart College Planning. N.p., Dec. 2009. Web. 31
May 2010. <smartcollegeplanning.org/2009/12/>.
Creedence Online. N.p., 2010. Web. 13 May 2010. <http://creedenceonline.net/history>.
David Eisenhower. N.d. Newswise. N.p., 2008. Web. 31 May 2010.
<www.newswise.com/articles/david-eisenhower-gr...>.
“Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival.” Song Facts. N.p., May 2010.
Web. 13 May 2010. <http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php>.
“Fortunate Son meaning.” Shmoop Beta. N.p., 2010. Web. 30 May 2010.
<http://www.shmoop.com/fortunate-son/meaning.html>.
>.
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George Bush. N.d. Scrape TV. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2010. <scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Politics/pages>.
“Hail to the chief.” Community Audio. N.p., Mar. 2001. Web. 30 May 2010.
<http://www.archive.org/details/HailtotheChief_482>.
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Mikkelson, David P., and Barbara P. Mikkelson. “Fortunate Son.” Snopes. N.p., 15 Aug. 2006. Web. 31 May 2010.
<http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/fortunate.asp>.
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Money. N.d. Giant Robot. N.p., 12 Nov. 2008. Web. 31 May 2010. <www.giantrobot.com/.../2008_11_01_archive.html>.
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“Ramble Tamble.” Pentangle. N.p., 2007. Web. 31 May 2010.
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“Silver spoon.” Wikipedia. N.p., Dec. 2008. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_spoon>.
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“Similes.” English Basics. N.p., 22 Mar. 1999. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://rhschool.com>.
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Vietnam Protest. N.d. Boomer’s Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2010. <www.boomerslife.org/anti-war_vietnam_war_prot>.
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“Vietnam War.” Digital History. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2010.
<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm>.
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“Vietnam War.” Wiki Spaces. N.p., 2008. Web. 31 May 2010. <https://trcs.wikispaces.com/Vietnam+war08?f=print
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