60. Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival

"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Written by Jon Fogerty
Produced by Jon Fogerty
Released on Willy and the Poor Boys (November 2, 1969)
Released as a single September 1969
Peaked at #14 on Billboard Hot 100
spotify iTunes amazon music video

While I'm not sure it's the first time I heard this song, I will always associate "Fortunate Son" with the film Forrest Gump. I seem to remember this song being prominently featured in at least one of its trailers. When Forrest Gump came out, I was in high school and was in the process of diving head first into the world of classic rock. Forrest Gump had an awesome soundtrack. While it wasn't just classic rock, it was all classics.

I really loved that movie when I first saw it. Even though it was nostalgic for a time I did not live through, it still felt somehow cool and familiar. All those moments in history that Forrest was thrown into were such a huge part of the cultural zeitgeist at the time. The hippie movement (and the larger Baby Boomer generation that it was a part of) had defined what was important and relevant and cool for much of my youth. That time depicted in the movie felt important, and it seemed like people had rallied around a set of common goals and really changed things for the better. The music of that era played a big part of amplifying those messages.

It's funny what age and perspective will do because now that I have grown older, I feel more and more like that image of the hippies and the civil rights movement was never actually real.

I don't enjoy watching Forrest Gump now. It feels too much like a money grab, playing people's nostalgia. I grew up learning that the hippie counterculture and the civil rights movement as depicted in movies like Forrest Gump and other media were the defining voices of the 1960's. Now that I am living through my own counterculture and protest movements, the reality is becoming more clear. It was only after the fact that the hippies and the civil rights leaders were viewed as heroes. A majority of people at the time were opposed to the preaching and teachings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A majority of the people at the time supported the Vietnam War. That's why it dragged on for as long as it did. A majority of people were not listening to the music that came to define the era. A vocal and significant minority of people did speak up and did try to change the direction of the country and the world, but they were not supported by mainstream America or its leaders.

The other reason I don't enjoy the film Forrest Gump is that after I read the book it was based on, it seemed like a silly, fairy tale. The book is much darker (and much funnier) than the movie. While the book's ending is not the sweet and sanguine pastiche of the movie, to me it made way more sense. Rather than Forrest stumbling into a happy life with wealth he didn't earn and a child he didn't know he had (including a rather shabbily tacked on reference to the AIDS pandemic), he instead finds contentment in his friends and a life of poverty away from the spotlight. Throughout both the film and the book, Forrest stumbles backwards into success after success, fame and everything that's wrong with it. So to me it makes more sense that the fairy tale would have to end.

If you haven't read the book, check it out sometime. I have friends that feel the opposite way I do about the film vs. the book. That's their opinion. I don't know how they can hold that opinion, but they are welcome to it. The world would be pretty boring if everyone interpreted art in the same way.

Despite my disillusionment about the glorified image of the 1960's, it did give us some fantastic music. "Fortunate Son" is a protest song born of that time, and much of what it protests against is still relevant today. Jon Fogerty sang about society's hypocrisy: Because he was not a senator's son, or a millionaire's son, or a military son, he was not a fortunate one. In the world he saw, wealth and connections are the only things that can keep you safe from war and the other ills of the world, and it's still true today. Wealth, fame, and family connections are the surest pathways to a comfortable life, to moving up the social ladder. Sure people can move up from the bottom, but how many actually do? The better question might be, how many people actually move down from the top? Can a billionaire ever end up with nothing? Maybe if you inherit your wealth and ostracize yourself from your family and connections, but I'm sure even those people can easily find their way back if they want it.

We live in a fractured society. My home country is experiencing a fall from grace. Its faulty foundations are exposed and crumbling beneath our feet.

And it's not all bad for everyone. I still have a job and a home. I have some money set aside for a rainy day. I'm certainly privileged in that way, but everyday I am confronted by the stark reality that many of my neighbors are faced with. Even though we can see that some progress has been made since 1969 when this song was released, there is still a long way to go, and too many things are not much better than they were then.

As I review this essay, I worry that it is too dark and pessimistic about the world I see, the history I know, and a certain feel good movie starring all-American hero Tom Hanks, but the world I see in the streets, in the news, and on the internet has gotten pretty dark. I can't simply put on my blinders anymore and hide in my insulated suburban life. If the only thing we leave behind is a new set of protest songs while people still die in the streets, don't have enough to eat, and don't see a way up or out, what's the point?

In many ways, I am the fortunate one. Now I need to do my part to ensure those less fortunate are heard, seen, and helped.

Right now "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival is (probably) my 60th favorite song of all time.