Posted on 08/15/2025 4:59:50 PM PDT by nickcarraway
John Fogerty, whose classic track “Fortunate Son” criticized Richard Nixon’s administration in the 1970s, compared the former president with current incumbent Donald Trump.
The 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival song, released during the Vietnam War, explored the subject of rich people profiting from war while poorer people died in conflict, while the sons of those rich people avoided the draft and didn’t have to fight.
The track’s relevance has been re-evaluated in recent years, with Nixon’s controversial presidency compared to that of Trump’s. In a new interview with the Guardian, Fogerty said he could handle having MAGA believers as fans of his music.
READ MORE: Why John Fogerty Still Isn’t Satisfied With ‘Fortunate Son’
Describing Trump as “almost a direct descendant” of Nixon, “skipping the years since 1974,” the musician continued: “Of course, Mr Trump is doing everything on steroids compared to Nixon. I think Nixon did have some shame. I don’t get that sense these days.
“There’s certainly no secret about a song like ‘Fortunate Son’ or ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain.’ You know what my worldview must be.
“But I don’t hold fans responsible for the activities of Mr. Trump. I wish everyone was a little bit more towards the middle. The older you get, you’re just sorry that everything’s so knee-jerk.”
Fogerty is poised to release Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years, an album of modern-day reconstructions of classic tracks. The songwriter said it had been an opportunity to reconnect with the music he’d written when he was young.
Citing the example of 1969’s “Proud Mary,” Fogerty explained: “There was what they call an epiphany. The track sounded really stunning [but] the lead vocal paled by comparison.
What John Fogerty Learned From Re-recording His Own Songs “And it finally dawned on me: ‘John, when you were doing this way back when, it was life or death for you.’ I came from a state of, if not poverty, then the lower economic rungs. It was very important and necessary to be great, as great as whatever was in me.
“And at that point I felt as if I was going through a portal, and really trying to be that person again. I continued to work on ‘Proud Mary’ that way and I ended up in a place I felt very good about.”
The major change in the draft was that in WWII, the draft board was to keep people out of the military, in Vietnam, it was a little more towards the opposite.
How big of him.
Lefties feel the knee-jerk to blame to Nixon for Vietnam, somehow forgetting about LBJ.
If I knew how to take pics off my phone and post them here I would.
I was thinking the same thing. Nixon actually ran on a plan to get out of the war. Not that that exactly worked.
The same with almost every classic icon of the rock era, all of whom, it seems, are mindless lefties when it comes to politics.
I’ve simply had to suck it up, because the music has to be separate, or I’d spend my life listening to Anita Bryant and Debbie Boone.
Although a lot of them hate LBJ. Go to one of their meetings and say “Gulf of Tonkin” and see their reaction.
The weird thing is the CCR music from that era didn’t seem to come from the regular left perspective.
Jiohn did a special the whole week of July 4 on the SXM Classic Vinyl channel - he’s a patriot.
Yeah, after Hitler, the world’s biggest villains were Nixon, Reagan, and Trump. 🙄
They _never_ talk about Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, or a host of other left-wing butchers that they could write “important” songs about.
Zackly.
Sad that Foggerty has turned into yet another aging douchebag Liberal rocker. I was a huge fan of CCR,a d saw them live at Winterland in SF in ‘70. They were awesome. Now look...
I’ve got an older Democrat friend (a blue dog, not a radical) who blames Eisenhower for Vietnam. And that’s because Ike sent advisors there.
The denial is strong with those folks.
But at least she didn’t go back further, and blame Teddy Roosevelt. So I’ll give her that.
i always heard it was about al gore
I think some people blame JFK too.
I’ve seen many of the classic rock legends live starting with Hendrix, but the greatest performance I ever was blessed to witness was AC at THEIR peak in March of ‘72.
Vince, now aka Alice, is a totally normal guy.
Churchill singlehandedly did more to save communism in the 20th century.
Um...you are a fortunate son, John.
So How Does the Remake Sound ?
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