As one of the most famous protest songs of the Vietnam War era, “Fortunate Son” revives this timeless message with the snarl and swagger of the 1960s righteous rock and roll.

As John Fogerty put it:

“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. In 1968, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and eighty percent of them were in favor of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble.”

As explained by John Fogerty, this song is the birthchild in a time of extreme distrust for executive authority. John describes the callousness of then president Richard Nixon and his arrogance towards young people. I have included this short video through which John Fogerty summarizes the reasons for this song’s creation.