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Essay on Song Analysis of "Fortunate Son"

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Evaluation of “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival Following World War Two, the two legitimate world powers were the United States and the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union under a communistic government and the United States being a nation founded in Capitalism, tensions between the two nations rose, resulting in the Cold War. Against the wishes of the United States, small countries in East Asia began to turn communist. Fear that one country turning would have a chain reaction turning many more, the United States turned to a policy of ‘containment’. This policy was tested in the Korean War and would be again tested in the Vietnam War. Starting as a War with the communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the French, …show more content…

Either way the message of this verse is how the the “senator’s son[s]” would not see the heat of combat unlike the common man as explained by John Fogerty in an interview where he said, “Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war.” This proved inaccurate as David did serve in the reserves however it was a sentiment among the American public with individuals such as Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, and others who political influence helped them avoid the draft. The next verse in the song addresses privileged class in American culture, the wealthiest of Americans. The song states that, “Some folks are born silver spoon in hand, Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh” criticising the rich who live easier life where things are often given to them and the song also calls them greedy by saying that “they help themselves”. Fogerty further criticizes the rich by saying how they do not help the poorer citizens with the lyrics, “But when the tax men come to the door, Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes” showing how the high class “tax men” are coming to take away the belongings and the livelihoods of the common man. Fogerty’s distrust of the rich in this verse stems from the law which stated that active members in a university, be it undergraduate, graduate, of law school,

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