Analysis Of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son

During peaceful protests against President Richard Nixon and the Cambodia Campaign, a group of National Guard soldiers shot rounds both in the air and at a group of protesters and bystanders, which changed the lives of thirteen people. Four were murdered, and nine more were injured by careless decisions. Artists, in their own form of protest, spoke out in song, and protested against the government. Neil Young, a canadian singer and songwriter, is one of those who spoke out and became critical of the actions by the guardsmen. Neil Young also criticized the President and mentioned him in his song, which at the time was very controversial. The song titled Ohio was banned on all AM radio channels. Today, the song is played frequently and is considered …show more content…
In the song, it is claimed that a fortunate son is a senator’s son, or a millionaire’s son, someone who is said to have been “born silver spoon in hand”, meaning they are born into wealth and will never be held accountable to the draft due to their special situation. Once again, this song is an example of critical music. It merely brings up the topic of privilege being an excuse to become absent in the draft, but it never offers a solution. The song instead promotes equality and detests privilege as reasoning to not honor the draft. Many of the young Americans of the time used this song as a form of expressing their thoughts of the government and what they are being made to do. It was such a unique song with a unique message to the American people that in order to recognize it properly, the song was added into the Library of congress in 2014. The song deserved to be acknowledged by the US government because it is part of US history. It is one of the best examples to show how music can influence public opinions, even in the eyes of the …show more content…
Critics claim that music and art in general, should stay separated from politics. Yet, Music and art don’t always have divine intentions -- They are not always created to be pure. Music during this time period was often used as a vehicle for artist to express opinion. Politics and the actions of the government in this time often were the cause for artist to become outspoken the way they did. If the actions and decisions of the government and those who represent it were positive, then perhaps artist would use it as an opportunity to celebrate and express appreciation; However, when actions are negative, and the government does not operate to benefit the people like the constitution promotes, people will feel unjust and one way to express it is by song. Free wills will do what they please, and in this case, the free wills created songs with