24 October 2007

Lauren J.(60), Wade M.(60), Jackie H.(21), Scott H.(33), Joel V.(33), Dervin M.(30), Brittany S.(30), Adriana H.(31), Lacey B.(35), Amanda L.(35)

27 comments:

Erin M. said...

Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Fortunate Son” (1969)

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, theyre red, white and blue.
And when the band plays hail to the chief,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord,

It aint me, it aint me, I aint no senators son, son.
It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, no,

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, dont they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,

It aint me, it aint me, I aint no millionaires son, no.
It aint me, it aint me; I aint 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 aint me, it aint me, I aint no military son, son.
It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, one.

It aint me, it aint me, I aint no fortunate one, no no no,
It aint me, it aint me, I aint no fortunate son, no no no

Scott Heller said...

Dear Group,

The song “Fortunate Son” is generally about how the speaker does not fit into any of three groups of people. In the first verse, the speaker talks about how some people are born to serve our country’s government but that he is not one of those people. The second verse is about how some people are born rich, but again, the speaker says that he is not one of those people. Finally, the last verse gets into the heart of the song’s meaning. The speaker says that the government is sending men to war in Vietnam and he does not want to fight in the war. He sings, “I ain’t no military son…I ain’t no fortunate one,” to mock the government. Like many of the songs written during the Sixties, “Fortune Son” was written to protest the government and the Vietnam War.

Sincerely,
Scott Heller

Anonymous said...

Hey group!

My name is Amanda, I am a freshman at USC Upstate.

This song by Creedence Clearwater Revival is a protest against the war in Vietnam. The lead singer felt that the sons of congressmen were being shown special treatment, they weren't being drafted or they were given safer assignments. When he says "Some folks are born silver spoon in hand... but when the taxman comes to the door, Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes" he means how the rich get richer and don't have to pay like the average citizen. He sings about not being a senators son, millionaires son, and military son, and by that he was talking about how most of the men fighting were from the working class and didn't have people in high places to get them out of it. He is singing from the perspective of someone who would have to fight because he is not a "fortunate son".

Amanda L. (35)

Anonymous said...

Dear Group:
The song “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival deals with a lot of themes during the 1960s. John Fogerty, the lead singer, discusses the three social classes during the 60s, being the ones involved in the government, the rich, and the soldiers off in Vietnam. In the first verse, he states how some are born to serve the government, but how he does not fit in with them, how he’s not a “senator’s son”. The second verse discusses that some are born spoon fed, and yet he does not fit within this social class also. The third verse obviously stresses the fact some were also born to fight for our country. Fogerty replies with that he’s not a military son, and that he will not be fighting in a pointless war. I also feel like this song is symbolic to the fact that some during the 60s did not fit into any of the politician or wealthy class, and because of their absence, were forced to go to war by the issued draft. I think that Fogerty’s words of advice were simply that it was not right to send the outcasts into war.

Kind Regards
Joel Varnedoe

Joel V. (33)

bcsmith2007 said...

Hello Group,

My name is Brittany Smith, and i am a freshman at University of South Carolina Upstate.

The song "Fortune Son", is basically speaking against the war in Vietnam. The speaker talks about how he sing a senatory's son, a millionaire's son, and a military's son. The speaker states that some are born to serve for our country's government but he wasn't. The speaker also points out that the men fighting in the war were from the working class, and wasn't fortunate to have people in high positions to get them out. The speaker is saying that because he isnt't the fortunate one, he would have to fight in the war. He continues to remind us that he's not the fortunate on, no no not the fortunate one.

Anonymous said...

Hello Group. I am Lacey Burris, a freshman at USC Upstate.

This song “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival is about a protest against the war. The speaker is singing from the point of view of an average US citizen. He is letting everyone know that rich people can get out of serving time in the war, but the average citizen will be sentenced with the duty of serving in the war, even if they are against this idea. He stresses the fact that by not being a son of an upperclassman, he deals with less opportunities and doesn't get to choose for himself. This is a song crying out for change in the government.

-Lacey B. (33)

Lauren said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lauren said...

Dear Group,

Hi everyone, my name’s Lauren and I’m a freshman at Clemson University.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s song “Fortunate Son” is primarily directed towards the Vietnam War and its effects on the society and population of the 1960’s. The artist uses rhetoric to argue his character and pronounce his beliefs. The first verse depicts those citizens that are highly involved and outspoken for their country and what it stands for. When stating “I ain’t no senators son…I ain’t no fortunate one” the impression is given off that the artist doesn’t support this lifestyle. Verse two has the line “Some folks are born silver spoon in hand” which refers to the stereotype of rich citizens having everything and are generally happy opposed to the singer whose “house looks like a rummage sale”. Those born with “star spangled eyes” only see their country and place it high on their priorities, doing anything to protect, honor, and respect it. They see that you can never give enough back in return for what this country has provided to them. For the artist to co-exist in society with the rest of the son’s and people then he feels obligated to fight in the war and help defend the others that don’t even have his common interest. The song overall suggests that the Vietnam War is condoned in his viewpoint and that he shouldn’t have to fight in or for something that he is not. The singer just wants to keep the peace and represent what he stands for.
I hope you all enjoyed analyzing this song!
Sincerely,


Lauren Johnson
Lauren J. (60)

Anonymous said...

Hey Guys!
My name is Jackie and I’m a freshman at Clemson University.
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s song “Fortunate Son” is about the protesting the war in Vietnam. In the first verse, the artist talks about patriotic people. He does not identify himself with these people by saying “I ain’t no senator’s son.” The second verse is about wealthy citizens. Again, the artist does not identify with these people by saying “I ain’t no millionaire’s son.” In the third verse he uses the same tactic of talking about people who are soldiers and does not identify with this group either. He says this because majority of US citizens are not extremely patriotic, millionaires or military people. In this way, he uses rhetoric to persuade the rest of us that forcing people to fight in this war is not just.
Jackie Hemann

D Mac said...

Dear Group,

My name is Dervin McCoy. I am a freshmen at USC Upstate.

Creedence Clearwater Revival's song "Fortunate Son" is a meaningful song for the time period it was written in. It expresses the feelings in the hearts of many men, women, and children about the war in Vietnam. It also tells about how a man's life is not just to be given to them by someone else. You can't make someone love their nation more than they want to. You can't tell someone they're rich and money jut fall into their lap, and you definetly can't make someone want to fight in a war they don't understand. People have a free will to do what they want as long as they aren't harmful to others.

Dervin M.(30)

adriana said...

Hey group! My name is Adriana and I am a freshman at USC Upstate. Creedence Clearwater Revival sings of three distinct classes and how he has place in none of the three.The song is a mockery of how he is not a fortunate one for not fitting in either of the groups he discusses.
The first verse of "Fortunate Son" deals the government and how we have to "...hail to the chief..." He obviously does not favor this class because he chooses to use the term "cannon." in the last line of the verse. The way is it put "...they point the cannon at you..." does not give you a positive aspect of the government.
The second verse explains how the "folks" "...born silver spoon in hand.." (the high class)are selfish and help no one but themselves. He give the example of how "...when the taxman comes to the door...the house looks like a rummage sale..." meaning they are so greedy they refuse to pay their taxes.
Lastly the third verse argues how he who inherits the "star spangled eyes" (the milatary son) is sent to war to just give more and more. Leading to believe that the band does not support the war because to give more and more indicates that there is knowledge of an end.

adriana said...

Hey group! My name is Adriana and I am a freshman at USC Upstate. Creedence Clearwater Revival sings of three distinct classes and how he has place in none of the three.The song is a mockery of how he is not a fortunate one for not fitting in either of the groups he discusses.
The first verse of "Fortunate Son" deals the government and how we have to "...hail to the chief..." He obviously does not favor this class because he chooses to use the term "cannon." in the last line of the verse. The way is it put "...they point the cannon at you..." does not give you a positive aspect of the government.
The second verse explains how the "folks" "...born silver spoon in hand.." (the high class)are selfish and help no one but themselves. He give the example of how "...when the taxman comes to the door...the house looks like a rummage sale..." meaning they are so greedy they refuse to pay their taxes.
Lastly the third verse argues how he who inherits the "star spangled eyes" (the milatary son) is sent to war to just give more and more. Leading to believe that the band does not support the war because to give more and more indicates that there is knowledge of an end to the war.

bcsmith2007 said...

Brittany Smith (30)

As i went through and read my groups posts, we all seem to have to same idea of the message of the song. Its mentioned alot about how the speaker wasnt one of the fortunate ones to be rich, a senator's son, or a military's son. And if he would have been drafted to war, he wouldnt have anyone to get him out of it. The Vietnam War is also mentioned alot throughout the groups post. We each had great ideas about the message of this song and its mentioned in every post only in different ways. I like the fact they one pointed out that the speaker was singing from the point of someone having to go to war. I didnt look at it that way until i read that post.

Anonymous said...

Dear Group:
After analyzing my group’s posts on the song “Fortunate Song”, I feel that we all understood the message quite well. Everyone’s point of view seems to be the same on how the song’s message deals with the ones who had to go to war, the unfortunate ones. I really enjoyed Amanda’s (section 35 USC Upstate Freshman) comment on how the singer was singing from the point of view of an unfortunate one. After reading her post, it basically summed my post up in a nut shell. I also thought that Lauren Johnson (section 60 Clemson University Freshman) post was also very similar to that of my own. She stated how the singer felt like he shouldn’t have to go to war, because his personality doesn’t fit the one of a soldier’s. I like how she made the point that the singer was just standing up for what he believes in. However, your opinion did not matter in the 1960s.
Thanks
Joel Varnedoe
Joel V. (33)

adriana said...

Hello Group! My name is Adriana and I am a freshman at USC Upstate.
After I was able to read the blogs of those among me I was able to understand the song from another perspestive. I do not think I was too far off in my interpretation. Scott Heller and I both agree that the song is a parody of how the government functions. Amanda L. and I shared a similar idea of the rich. They are money hungry which leads them to gain more money. Overall I think the whole group understood that this song is against war.

Scott Heller said...

Dear Group,
I agree that we all have a similar general understanding of the song. I liked Joel Varnedoe's (section 33) comment about the importance of social class during the 60's. He pointed out that people had no choice but to go to war if they were not wealthy or involved politically. I believe that this is why many American citizens during the 60's were not happy with the government. Amanda L. (section 35) also mentioned that higher standing officials were given special treatment, something that many people find unfair. However, the truth is that even today people who have connections are given special treatment.

Sincerely,
Scott Heller (33)

Lauren said...

Dear Group,

The consensus is made that we all perceived the same interpretation of “Fortunate Son”. Joel Varnedoe (Section 33) pointed out in his second sentence about how the individuals that were being sent to war were in fact the unfortunate ones, which was a new point of view for me. This makes a lot more sense of the song in the circumstances that the artist states several different types of “sons”, all of which were in fact rich, lucky, or better in some shape or form in his eyes. The perception of the lyrics in this way shows the “fortunate sons” in relation to the Vietnam War. These “sons” were the ones that might not be going to war. Another point that particularly stood out to me was that of Adriana (Section 31). Adriana quoted part of the verse “...they point the cannon at you...” which makes me refer “they” as the government. By interpreting this line it states that the government is going to in some way turn its back on you even after your allegiance and devotion. The artist does not agree nor support the fact that this could happen if he went to war and gave his loyalty.

Sincerely,

Lauren Johnson
Lauren J. (60)

Anonymous said...

Dear Group,
As it is stated, we did all see the same basic theme in this song. However, the comment Lacey said about “crying out for a change in government” offered a different perception for me. I concluded that Creedence Clearwater Revival was more complaining than trying to change the government. Also, Adriana talked about how we have to “hail to the chief” and his dislike for this idea based on the word “cannon.” This makes so much sense, but I did not see that as I read through the song various times. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and look forward to continue doing so.
Jackie Hemann

Anonymous said...

Dear Group
I really enjoyed reading all of the group’s comments through this second assignment. As I read, I noticed that a lot of our group member’s views had changed after reading the other member’s comments. I agree with Lauren (Section 60) that everyone’s interpretation of the song was similar. The comment that Scott (Section 33) said really stood out to me. He pointed out that people with connections are given special treatment. I realized that this is very true today, especially among celebrities and high officials. Group, check out this song, “Imagine” by John Lennon.

(http://www.lyrics.com/url.php?link=http://www.bagism.com/lyrics/lennon-collection-lyrics.html#Imagine)

In his song, John Lennon is viewed as a dreamer, wishing for the world to be at peace. I’ve always liked the song, but I’ve never really read the lyrics. After viewing Lennon’s words, I came to the conclusion that if the world was at peace, we wouldn’t have the fortunate and unfortunate sons.
Thanks
Joel V. (33)

D Mac said...

Dear Group,
As I went through and read everyone's posts, I realize everyone basically had the same idea. Brittany S.(30) talks about how the speaker mentioned alot about how he himself wasn't one of the fortunate ones to be born rich, a senator's son, or a military brat. The Vietnam War is also another thing talked about alot. Joel V.(33) talks about how the speaker felt he didn't feel like he should be drafted for war. The speaker probably didn't feel like there was a purpose to the war.
Dervin M.(30)

D Mac said...

Dear Group,
I have read through all of the posts up to now and I see that everyone is pretty much on the same page about the meaning of this song. Joel V.(33) came to the same conclusion.
http://bp3.blogger.com/_OP4vzJepzy4/Rxz1Mo1nYKI/AAAAAAAAAC4/NdhVZsXsM90/S259/rmt003.jpg
I feel this represents where the speaker might feel like he fits in with society. He feels there isn't anything special about him, and doesn't seem to have much of a care in the world.

bcsmith2007 said...

Brittany Smith

Dear Group,

Going back through again and reading all of the posts, we all have noticed that we got the same messages out of the song as the rest of the group. I really thougth it was interesting to read what others thought about the song and noticing it was the same as what i thought. I also saw that we were able too feed off from each other, and the things that we didnt notice they pointed out. We also were able to see what people thought about what we wrote.

Anonymous said...

Hey group!

I think we all have the same idea of the lyrics and their meaning. We all discussed how if the speaker had been drafted he wouldn't be "fortunate" enough to have someone to get him out. Joel V. and Lauren J. seemed to have the most similar views, but everyone pretty much agreed. I also like that the speaker was speaking from experience because he had been drafted.

Thanks!
-Amanda L. (35)

Anonymous said...

Dear Group,

I really enjoyed reading everyone's comments. We all seem to have the same ideas and thoughts about the song. All of us can also seem to understand the speakers emotions and relate in our own way. Anyways, I found this site I thought was kind of interesting.
http://www.royblakeley.name/larry_blakeley/songs/fortunate_son.htm
If you scroll down there are some different pictures, one particularly of a Marine, it says "First to Fight". The lyrics for "Fortunate Son" are also there. This site made it a little more clear to me what he may have been feeling.

Amanda L. (35)

Anonymous said...

Dear Group,
I liked how Scott talked about how times have not changed in the fact that people with connections get special treatment. The rest of us have to live life the harder way. Joel V. stated that people did not have opinions that mattered in the 60s. For the point of the song, I agree, but not in other ways.
http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/p/O/viet105.jpg
This picture shows how the singer feels in this situation. The government is forcing him to do things he does not want to do, treating him like a puppet.
I enjoyed going over this song with you guys!
Jackie Hemann (21)

Lauren said...

Dear Group,

I really enjoyed what everyone has to say about their interpretations of this song. We’ve done a good job assessing the meaning and what it stands for. Dervin McCoy (Section 30) had a very interesting viewpoint and I would like to hear more of what he has to say about his opinion on this topic. Scott Heller (33) also agree’s with the stand point that the song mentions different levels of social class and government officials sometimes give special treatment. Upon surfing the web I came across a photo that you can view at

http://english.people.com.cn/200606/19/images/xinsrc_08206031508549061301337.jpg.

The picture contains ten war protestors lying beside coffins in front of the white house. The protestors are holding up peace symbols with their fingers to prove their status and standpoint of the war.

I really enjoyed talking with everyone!

Sincerely,

Lauren Johnson
Lauren J. (60)

Scott Heller said...

Dear Group,
I really enjoyed Jackie's (section 22) picture (http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/p/O/viet105.jpg). I think that it really sums up what this song is about. The puppet metaphor is perfect for how the U.S. government treated it's citizens during the 60's. I agree with Dervin's (section 30) comment that the speaker does not agree with the war. Another song demonstrating this same distaste in the war is "Stop Children, What's that Sound?" by Buffalo Springfield. The song says that we better stop what we're doing and look around, because what we're doing isn't always the right thing to do.