Hip Hop Fan's First Reaction to Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival

'Hail to the Chief' is the song played when the US President enters the room. They are referencing the people that were able to get OUT of the Vietnam draft. 'It ain't me', because he's been sent to fight.

Hail to the chief is not,referring to Native Americans, it’s played at every Presidential event when u see military bands. And yes, the wealthy (many in govt. also) children were safe in college, while other young men were fair game for the draft. My late husband got a free tour of Asia, as he called it, in ‘69.

CCR's strength was that they sang to an Everyman audience, not specifically to a hippy subculture or an affluent, white suburb, with all the weight of blues and gospel in their rhythm. Try "Lodi" (about failure), "Long As I Can See the Light" (about love & faith), or "Run Through the Jungle" (again Nam and nightmares).

I think the best 10 years of rock music are from 1967 to 1977

Draftee here... '68. Guys were disappearin' from the neighborhood. Then, that feelin' you get in your gut when you read the word, "Greetings" is surreal. "Really? Me?" But I gotta say, was the bes' thing ever happened to me. Yea, I did a tour in Nam (1970), but since I was lucky (and that is all it was), there is a sense of relief and a weird melancholy. CCR to me were the 'Anthem Makers' of our generation. Can't listen to any of their stuff without a wet cheek. To those who've seen the rain... Welcome Home, Brothers.

Fogerty has a great voice that has stood up well through the years. This song rips the plastic patriots waving the flag. And yeah, if you were a rich kid you didn't have to go die in Vietnam.

John Fogerty has one of my favorite voices in all music. So distinctive that it makes you pay attention to the lyrics. I love this song volume fully up.

Part of the reason you had SO much great music then was that the first wave of baby boomers were coming of age….and so we dominated the culture just by shear numbers. Combine that with the opposition to the war by a good chunk of young people, the race riots and fight for civil rights…you had a culture in turmoil. Add to that the extremely high importance of music at that time to the youth culture as a means of expression and bonding of “the tribe” so-to-speak….and you get talented artists who seek to enter music as a career……and you get cultural “hot spots” like LA (Laurel Canyon) San Francisco in America….London….where these artists congregate and share ideas, riffs etc……and build upon each other’s ideas and sing on one another albums. And the music scene just explodes. It has been described as akin to a type of Renaissance if you will.

Just about the perfect rock song. Great lyrics, great melody, great hooks, awesome vocal and a brilliant overall band performance. You can't go wrong with Creedence, man. It's just wall to wall great song after great song.

I think you're correct that the great music at this time was partially inspired by the tumultuous times of the 60s with the Vietnam war and the the 60s cultural revolution. The young people weren't afraid to question authority as their lives were on the line due to the draft. There are many other forces responsible for the explosion of superb music in the 60s and 70s. We had no PCs, video games and social media to distract us from interacting with each other, master an instrument or collaborate on music. Another factor that fostering great music was that the music industry was not run like it is today.

"Hail to the Chief" is a piece of music they used to play when the President was being introduced at events, like a fanfare. Fyi, he (John Fogerty) actually served in the Army before his music career.

To make it as simplistic as possible, it's a song about how the rich didn't send their kids to die in Vietnam, but the poor had to.

Songs like this serve as reminders that as crazy as things seem right now, they've been just as crazy (or crazier) in the not-too-distant past. Many of the same problems folks were working on solving are still problems that need solving.

CCR was one of the best bands of the era. Their rendition of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" and their anti-Vietnam war songs "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Have you ever seen the Rain" & "Run though the Jungle" are terrific and their rendition of "American Band" is unforgettable. Thanks for playing this & your comments.

This song served as an anthem for those of us who opposed the Viet Nam conflict- hearing it still takes me back to '69, when I was 20 & 'draft-eligible'!

CCR is from Berkeley, CA. YET, they sound pure swampy Louisiana! A must listen is “ Born On the Bayou”- it’s so swampy you can feel it!

I was eight years old when this came out my dad had every one of their albums. CCR is probably one of my most favorite bands of all.

References to Vietnam were sometimes hidden in songs "last train to Clarksville" by Monkees and "Galveston" by Glenn Campbell. for example.

He’s talking about Vietnam, the draft, and hypocrisy of the whole situation. By ‘69 the US has been sending boys to die since the Kennedy Administration which ended in ‘63. Back then as well as today the majority of soldiers were boys straight outta high school. If you were in university you weren’t drafted, unless u dropped out. But if you’re family had the money you could stay in school or even go abroad to avoid the draft. The movie “Platoon” or “Born on the 4th of July” are great little snap shots of America during the war. ✌🏼💗🤗

It was the best time in music! I was fortunate enough to grow up during this time. Loved your reaction. Another CCR song is Run Through the Jungle.