Fortunate Son

2086 Words5 Pages

The 1960s was the era of rebellion. It was a time when views of many people started to change dramatically as unexpected things were happening from the Cold War to the assassinations of nation’s leaders. So within this disturbed era, many citizens started to rebel and question the authorities saying that they were ruining the country. The younger generation, especially, stood firmly in front to lead the action to change the ideas of the older generation. One of the main methods they used to speak their opinions was through music and we can see the power it had on the people through one of the main protest anthems called “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969. The song speaks out to the elite controlled America and becomes one of many instances of the younger generation questioning and rebelling against the authority in the late 1960s. They send people a message that the citizens of United States do not live in a fair world and the authorities are not doing their jobs. By creating images through the comparative and descriptive lyrics such as who “waves the flag” , and “some folks are born with silver spoons in hand”, its repetition of the chorus “it ain’t me” and the instrumentation of the song which sounds like the cry of the working class to signify that the Vietnam War is a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight, this song by the Creedence Clearwater Revival shouts to the world that the elite-controlled America is unfair as it can get; and becomes a big part of the counterculture movement. However, contrary to the message of the song, challenges to authority and privilege did not come exclusively from the working class. Rather, members of the upper class were also involved in opposition movements, for instance vi...

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...vs. elite class as the band assumed. There was much more to it as few of the fortunate ones such as the senator’s, millionaire’s or military sons were supporting the opposition against the authorities. We must not forget the few fortunate ones with the right mindsets such as the student rioters in Columbia, Harvard and in many other elite universities who fought against their own parents to stop the nonsense that was going on in America and showed us that one’s class might have some effect on the person but it does not fully determine what kind of person one becomes.

Works Cited

Anonymous. “Harvard: The Rulers and the Ruled.” Dimensions of Culture 3: Imagination. 215-216.

Columbia Strike Coordinating Committee. “Columbia Liberated.” Dimensions of Culture 3: Imagination. 211-213.

Fogerty, John. Fortunate Son. Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fantasy Records, 1969.

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