Fortunate Son

About

Fortunate Son is a 1969 song released by the band Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song has seen considerable use in pop culture media and has been used online in ironic fashion in reference to the United States military.

Origin

In September 1969, Fortunate Son was released as a single as a b-side to the song "Down on the Corner" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.^[1] Both songs would later be released on their fourth studio record Willy and the Poor Boys. The song was used by anti-war activists, expressing opposition to the Vietnam War and the United States' involvement in it. The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. A music video was released in commemoration of its 50th anniversary on June 28th, 2018.

Spread

"Fortunate Son" has been heavily used in pop culture media in reference to US military involvement. For example, the song appears in the film Forrest Gump during the title character's time in the war (shown below).

The song has been parodied online, used in ironic celebration of US military involvement and jokes about the Vietnam War.

It Ain't Me

It Ain't Me is a memorable line from the chorus of Fortunate Son. It is frequently referenced on the 4chan board /tv/ via green text in reference to popular tropes involving Vietnam War films.

Fortunate Son Goes With Everything

Fortunate Son Goes With Everything is a series of remix videos in which scenes from films and video games are paired with the aforementioned song. It is utilized to the same effect as Guile's and Groose's theme. One of the more popular videos released was by a YouTuber named LukeOverThere where the song is paired with multiple video game endings, including Fallout 4, Spec Ops: The Line, and Portal 2. The video has over 3 million views as of October 2019 (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External Links