Fortunate Son
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?" Ooh, they only answer, "More, more, more"
Welcome to new subscribers and regular readers! Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Fortunate Son” by Credence Clearwater Revival (1969). You’ll find the YouTube video below the article.
Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics which are written in italics. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEIC (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.
(633 words)
Before the Vietnam War, the U.S. military had enough volunteers. Throughout the Vietnam War in the 1960s, as the numbers of soldiers increased, more men were needed. Fortunate Son was written at the height of the Vietnam War protests. The main theme of the song is the draft. This was a system by which young men were chosen to go into the military. A birth date was selected at random. If your birthdate came up at the beginning of the selection process, you had to go for military training. If your birthdate came up later, there was a smaller chance of being called to join.
There was controversy about the system. Some people said the system was not fair, that the numbers weren’t mixed well enough. Many young men objected to the war and went to Canada or countries in Europe to avoid being drafted. Some people who didn’t want to fight asked a friendly doctor to say they had a medical condition that would exempt them from service. However, thousands of young men thought it was their duty to serve and to protect the United States. To be “red, white, and blue” means to be a patriotic American. Hail to the Chief is the song that is played when the president appears in front of the public.
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
The song implies that if you had political connections, you could find a way not to be drafted:
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, no
College students were able to defer service. Until August, 1965, married men were exempt. After that, if you had a child, you could get a deferment until 1970, when President Nixon changed the law again.
Because families who had wealth could send their sons to university, as long as they were studying, they could defer going into the military. To be “born with a silver spoon in your mouth” means to be born into a very rich family. Here, the song says rich people live a very rich lifestyle until they have to pay taxes. Then they say they have very little money. A rummage sale, yard sale, or garage sale is when people sell a variety of used things, usually held the front yard or garage, in order to make a little extra money.
Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, no
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yeah
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, no
Not everyone wanted to get out of serving in the military. People who thought it was right to enter the military did so. To have star-spangled eyes means that you believe you are being patriotic. This phrase comes from the American national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. However, there was a growing number of people who kept asking, “Why are we fighting people who have never done anything to us?” “What is the reason we should give ‘the ultimate sacrifice?’”, in other words, our lives.
Some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer, "More, more, more"
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no military son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
Some young men burned their draft cards in protest of the war.
Vocabulary
at the height of（戦争の）真っ只中
draft 徴兵
controversy 論争
be exempt from 免除される
defer 猶予する deferment (n.)
rummage sale フリーマーケット ➡️(flea [ノミ] market, not FREE market)
ultimate 究極
sacrifice 犠牲
inherit 相続
Sources
A&E Television Networks. (2025, February 7). 7 ways Americans avoided the draft during the Vietnam War. History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/vietnam-war-draft-avoiding Accessed 19 April 2025.
Caffrey, C. Draft lottery (1969). EBSCO Information Services, Inc. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/military-history-and-science/draft-lottery-1969 Accessed 19 April 2025.
Robbins, M. S. (1999). Against the Vietnam War: Writings by activists. Syracuse University Press.
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Wow, thanks for that. I turned 18 in 1969 and to this day I have never played the lottery. My draft lottery number was 272 and I figured what are the odds of winning the lottery two times in one’s life? And, my prize, was probably my life. My Dad was a 30 year Navy man, a Senior Chief Medical Corpsman, infectious disease specialist, we got all our vaccines sitting on the couch at home. In 1966 we moved from Virginia to Napa Valley where my Mom’s people are from for her health. In order to do so, my Dad had to take a tour on an aircraft carrier and did two tours off the coast of Vietnam as, among other things , a flight deck medic pulling wounded pilots out of planes. He told me: “Don’t go into the military unless you have to, it’s a hard life.” It was his way out of rural poverty in Alabama. He was a very peaceful man and when he came home from Vietnam they were paid what was known as “Hazarous Duty Pay.” He would throw the check on the table and say: “Here’s the blood money.”
Sorry to be lengthy, but we were young semi-hippie kids, in The City every weekend at the Fillmore, Winterland, Avalon ballrooms and little clubs where I was so close to Van Morrison that he shook my hand. Great music days..
I loved this song for a long time before I even understood what it meant. I love this explanation and history in the lyrics!