Fortunate Son
"Fortunate Son" is a song by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released on the band's fourth studio album, Willy and the Poor Boys in October 1969. It was previously released as a single, together with "Down on the Corner", in September 1969.[4] It soon became a Vietnam anti-war movement anthem and an expressive symbol of the counterculture's opposition to U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War and solidarity with the soldiers fighting it.[5] The song has been featured extensively in pop culture depictions of the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement.[6]
For other uses, see Fortunate Son (disambiguation)."Fortunate Son"
October 1969
2:21
John Fogerty
The song reached number 14 on the United States charts on November 22, 1969, the week before Billboard changed its methodology on double-sided hits. The tracks combined to climb to number 9 the next week, on the way to peaking at number 3 three more weeks later, on 20 December 1969.[7] It won the RIAA Gold Disc award in December 1970.[8] Pitchfork Media placed it at number 17 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[9] Rolling Stone placed it at number 99 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2004 and 2010; it was moved down to number 227 in the 2020 edition. In 2013, the song was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Reception[edit]
Billboard said it has "the feel and flavor of [the group's] recent winner ['Green River']."[14] Upon the single release, Record World felt that it could be CCR's biggest hit to date.[15]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Bryan Wawzenek rated the lyrics of "Fortunate Son" as Fogerty's greatest, saying "It’s not just Fogerty’s emotion, but the words that make this song great. 'Star-spangled eyes' is one of the best descriptive phrases in all of rock and roll, a uniquely American twist on rose-colored glasses."[16]