“It’s happened before, people thought it was a patriotic ditty to wave the flag”: John Fogerty explains why Trump has misunderstood Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son
US president Donald Trump has ruffled the feathers of a growing list of artists for using their music at his political rallies and within campaign videos, with many taking legal action – John Fogerty is one of them.
Trump has previously used Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son to soundtrack his rallies, causing the band’s guitarist and prime songwriter to issue a cease and desist order to put a stop to its use. Fogerty has no idea why anyone would want to use the track at a political rally, but especially Mr. Trump.
READ MORE: John Fogerty says this thing is more important to musical success than being a good guitar player: “Even if your playing is kind of average, you can go far”
Back when Fogerty issued the cease and desist, he wrote a statement and explained that the song exists because “as a veteran, I was disgusted that some people were allowed to be excluded from serving our country because they had access to political and financial privilege”. You can read his original post below:
pic.twitter.com/XFCwiOadr2
— John Fogerty (@John_Fogerty) October 16, 2020
Now, in an interview with Vulture, Fogerty selects the track as the most misunderstood song from his catalogue. He explains, “That’s misunderstood by a small percentage of people – people who seem to be conservative, right-wing, and probably Republican or some other ‘ism’ in that category, and most notably by Mr Trump.
“It’s happened before where people thought it was a patriotic ditty to wave the flag and all that, not really understanding the cynicism and absolute defiance I had in the song. I mean, even if you don’t hear the rest of it, you should at least hear, ‘It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son’. But if you don’t, then I guess you’re able to see the song in a different way.”
He adds, “How can I say this? I can’t imagine using that song as a political rallying theme, particularly when you seem to be the person who I’m screaming about in the song on all three counts. It’s hilarious to me. Maybe I’m the one that misunderstands it, who knows?”
John Fogerty released Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years on 22 August, featuring re-recorded versions of the band’s classics. You can find out more via his website.
The post “It’s happened before, people thought it was a patriotic ditty to wave the flag”: John Fogerty explains why Trump has misunderstood Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
