A guy at work told me the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Fortunate Son” is about Al Gore.
I realize that he’s a senator’s son, but it still sounds like BS.
I wonder if he’s confusing the book called “Fortunate Son” (which is about G.W. Bush) with the song?
Anybody ever hear of this? When the song came out (or was written) where was Al Gore Jr? Was he a public figure yet?
The song came out in 1969. I’ve heard that story about Gore, but I believe John Fogerty said it was not aimed at any specific person, but rather a general indictment of the inequalities of the draft.
I think a close examination of a VH-1 “Behind the Music” should provide the answer.
Bill Clinton’s campaign used ‘Fortunate Son’ as a campaign theme song in 1992. By their reckoning, John Fogerty’s ‘senator’s son’ was George Herbert Walker Bush, son of Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut and W’s dad.
“Fortunate Son” is a screed against politicians and rich folks who start wars and send poor boys off to get killed in them, but who’d never send their OWN sons off to Viet Nam.
COuld this be about AL Gore? Not likely. Al Gore (a senator’s son) DID serve in Viet Nam (granted, he wasn’t serving in a dangerous, combat role- fact remains, he was THERE). Moreover, Senator Gore was NOT a hawk on Viet Nam. So, the Gores did not exemplify the kind of hypocrisy John Fogerty was singing about.
Absolute poppycock. Al Gore began his political career in 1976, and was not nationally prominent until years later. He was born in 1948. 1969 seems about right for the song - that would have been the same year Gore graduated from Harvard.
What song are we talking about…
Someone mentioned “Senetor’s Son” was written by John Foggerty.
Anyway, I remember on Dec 31st, 1999 The Clintons and everyone else who was worthy was gathered at the Nation’s capital in Washington D.C. and there was a performance of the song “Fortunate Son” (or is it Senator’s Son?) If this song was about Al Gore, it would be about him in a negative way. Right? So why would they perform that song at that time? Although, President Clinton did “dodge the draft” as they say, did he not? He was there and heard the performance…
“Fortunate Son” could have been about any of the millions of relatively well off (or relatively well educated) young men who avoided combat during the Vietnam War, while poorer, less educated young men went into combat. It’s pointless to complain about individual men who did this. The whole system was set up so that the richer and more educated you were, the easier it was to stay out of combat. The more money and education you had, the easier it was to hold off being drafted longer, to get a consciencious objector deferment, to get a physical deferment, to do your service in the National Guard, or to do your time in Vietnam in something other than actual combat. There’s a famous article about this by James Fallows called “What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?”, but I can’t find an easy place where you could look it up. I think it originally appeared in Washington Monthly.
Don’t think people didn’t notice the disparity at the time. Till the late '60’s, people from poor and working-class backgrounds were much more likely to be against the Vietnam War. There was no substantial amount of middle-class and rich opposition to the war until after the college deferment was dropped in the late '60’s.
Ahem – as one whose lottery number was 107, I can tell you that the college deferment was never discontinued. There was a graduate student deferment that was eliminated. Also, the extent of rich, white youth opposition to Vietnam was pretty much in direct proportion to the draft calls – very little until 1965, then steadily increasing, then winding down in the early 1970s.
::ahem, ahem::
I turned 19 in 1973. My lottery number was 38. The college deferment ended the year before and the draft ended the year after. I joined ROTC for one year to get a deferment until the draft ended.
Student deferment status, 2S, was indeed discontinued. My number was 24, and I had one. It had actually been discontinued for students ENTERING college at the time drew that 24 number, but I was able to get one by showing that I had already been enrolled before they discontinued them. All sorts of dire warnings came with the 2S about how it extended your elegibility, etc. The draft was over by the time I graduated, and everybody not medically unfit, etc, was classed 1H. At least that’s what it said on the last draft card I was issued, which I lost years ago. Now, I guess I’d have to be classified 4OF - unfit for service due to being an old fart.
Matrix, I stand corrected. Those of us who had college deferments were allowed to keep them until graducation. In my case, the draft ended at the same time I graduated, so I was never exposed.
Right. But it’s still Bill Clinton’s fault we lost the war.
I feel so manly now. In 1972 I was 18 and had a draft number of 50. The only concession I made to the draft was enlisting instead of waiting to be drafted so that I could get more choices than if I was drafted. Semper Fi!
I thought Al Gore invented CCR. 
quick hijack. As usual, I have a story.
When my husband and I got married, it was very non traditional (ie: justice of the peace, no guests), and we had a small party following our ceremony. Well, the party was at a bar and we had about 35 guests. The groom got positively shit faced (very unlike him) and came running into the room yelling “Everyone! Everyone! Pay attention! We’re going to dance to our song!”
Well, we don’t HAVE a song, so I was very confused about what he meant. He walked up to the 5 CD changer stereo system and pushed “random”. What song comes up but “Fortunate Son”. And by God, we danced to it! Everyone was appalled, I was laughing my ass off, and it makes for an interesting wedding theme!
Zette
A while ago, a listener called a DJ and asked for “something by the Eagles” for his girlfriend. I immediately thought: it’d be great if he played “Witchy Woman”. Sadly, he played a ballad instead.