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Credit: Nela Koenig

Credit: Nela KoenigJohn Fogerty has posted a video message on his official Facebook page expressing his annoyance that President Donald Trump used the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Fortunate Son” at a recent campaign rally.

In the clip, Fogerty says he finds it “confounding” that the president played the tune at his event, and goes on to explain why.

“I wrote the song back in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War,” the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer notes. “By the time I wrote the song, I had already been drafted and had served in the military. And I’ve been a lifelong supporter of our guys and gals in the military.”

He points out that “Fortunate Son” was partly inspired by people of privilege who were able to avoid the military draft because of their connections or wealth. While he doesn’t express it specifically in the video, Fogerty’s comments appear to allude to the fact that Trump received five deferments so he didn’t have to serve in the military during the Vietnam War.

Fogerty proceeds to recite the first lines of “Fortunate Son”: “Some folks are born made to wave the flag/ Ooh they’re red, white and blue/ But when the band plays ‘Hail to the Chief,’ they point the cannon at you.”

He then maintains, “Well, that’s exactly what happened recently in Lafayette [Square,]” referring to the president using federal troops to clear the Washington, D.C., site of protestors “so that he could stand in front of St. John’s Church with a Bible.”

Fogerty ends his message by noting, “It’s a song I could’ve written now. And so I find it confusing…that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies, when in fact it seems like he is probably the fortunate son.”

By Matt Friedlander
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