It Ain't Me

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About

"It Ain't Me" is a memorable line from the lyrics of the 1969 classic rock song "Fortunate Son" by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. On 4chan, the refrain is frequently referenced in the context of green text discussing popular tropes in Vietnam War films, particularly within the /tv/ (television & film) board.

Origin

In September 1969, the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) released their single "Fortunate Son" (shown below). During the chorus of the song, the phrase "it ain't me" is repeated several times.

"It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no"

The song was released during the Vietnam War conflict, and was widely considered an indictment of the military action. In 1994, the romantic comedy Forrest Gump was released, which prominently featured the song during a scene in which the titular protagonist flies into a combat zone in South Vietnam (shown below). The song was later used during Vietnam-related scenes in several other films and television shows, including American Dad and Tropic Thunder.^[4]

Spread

On April 8th, 2013, a 4chan user replied to a thread listing movie cliches with the green text ">scene on the open road driving / >born to be wild starts playing" (shown below).^[1]

On January 27th, 2014, an anonymous 4chan user created a /tv/^[2] thread with the green text lines ">Movie set during the Vietnam war / >It's Just A Shot Away starts playing," incorrectly identifying the 1969 rock song "Gimmie Shelter" by The Rolling Stones as the line "it's just a shot away" from the chorus (shown below). In the thread, other 4chan users replied with variations of the green text phrasal template.

On September 6th, 2015, a question about the frequent references to the song on /tv/ was submitted to the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[3] subreddit. On November 8th, 2015, a 4chan user replied to a thread asking "what song do you play from helicopters" with the reply "It ain't me by CCR" along with a Vietnam War-themed Pepe the Frog illustration with the caption "It Ain't Me" on the /k/^[5] (weapons) board (shown below).