purchase [ Willy and the Poor Boys ]
War is raw. Peace maybe a little less so - unless maybe you are trying to wage it - [see Kent State]. Perhaps that's why this song reverberates for me. I can't think of a single one of CCR's songs that doesn't come across as raw. Maybe it had to do with the tonal qualities of electric guitars in those days. Maybe it was John Fogerty. Maybe it was the 70s.
Like the majority of musicians in 1970x John Fogerty had little intention of going to Vietnam (he joined the Reserves in order to get around this). Like country Joe Fish, Fogerty made his opinion verbal. Do not equate this with a lack of patriotism - quite the opposite. It is one of your rights to state your opposition (to the extent that it doesnt harm others and doesn't <break the law>). Singing about is is an even better way to be patriotic.
In the clip above, Springsteen attests to the seminal influence of John Fogerty. He's right. So so right, that some other musicians you may have heard about went off and set up a band named Willie and the Poor Boys (a direct take from the album on which this song came out) - the members include Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Andy Fairweather-Low and more. Not a bad legacy, like the "Boss" says.
see:
The <Fortunate Son> lyrics say a lot about being a patriot, and there is a consideration of the limits:
I ain't no senator's son ( that is pretty clear -I think we are talking bone spurs here)
But when the taxman comes to the doorand, he sings, he's speaking his mind (saying his peace/piece) because
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes (sounds like someone's secret tax returns)
I ain't no millionaire's son, no
here's a little more from <CCR> for old times' sake ...
