Fortunate Son
By Phantom On February 8th, 2013
The great John Fogerty of CCR wrote this song in 20 minutes in 1969, when the Vietnam War was blazing. It’s as relevant now as it was then.
This one goes out to GW Bush, Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney, who this song could have been written for. And to all who call for war that they’ll never fight in, with much extra credit to those who don’t want their taxes raised to pay for any of it. Cheers!
Some folks are born to wave the flag,
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail to the chief”,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no,
Yeah!Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no.Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one.
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, no no no,
Great post hopefully David and the rest of the “ill fight to the last drop of everyone elses blood” will take note
I think you better include Our Savior, President Barack Obama in that Bush-Cheney-Gingrich call-out, Phantom.
He seems to like war every bit as much as Bush did even though he’s hell bent on cutting back on military expenditures.
You left off a hail hearty shout out to the current neo-con crew who believe Israel is the 51st state.
*your song was playing when my husband walked through the door and he immediately started singing along in fine tenor.
Patty
Obama was too young to serve in Nam. He didn’t avoid service like the three War Wimps mentioned above. But I will be happy to add Romney, Limbaugh, Ted Nugent, and Bill Clinton to the Hall of Shame!
Of course Obama’s like those men, Patty. He’s another mainstream president dealing with historic precedents and global events well beyond his control.
Military expenditures need to be cut. How is this even a serious question among conservatives? Those dollars constitute a massive third of our national budget.
We need to spend less and our Euro buddies, and Japan need to spend more
And the flip side was Down on The Corner.
Fortunate Son is simply a perfect song. His voice, that band and the bite of the lyrics.
There are song songs and some voices you can never hear too many times.
Yes.
Many political songs lose their relevance after a time. I don’t think that this one ever will. It doesn’t mention Nixon as ” Ohio ” did, of course it doesn’t talk about the Vietnam War. It talks about the usual situation, the usual injustice.
The song is ten times more relevant now than it was then if anything. In the Vietnam era, at least the war hawks – much crazier than today’s – weren’t complaining about taxes when they bellowed for war. But that’s what the war hawks want now. Free wars, paid for by magick, fought by someone else.
Phantom – indeed it gets its timeless element from the fact that many of the rich and powerful and the super sunshine patriots will always be willing to send other men’ sons to war.
I almost posted this youtube version of the song, which focuses on Mitt Romney.
A true fortunate son, the son of a governor, who actually protested against the antiwar protesters!
But who made damned sure that he didn’t go to Vietnam himself. Oh no. He went to France instead to win a few souls for Mormonism.
Oh, they’re clever alright.