(CelebrityAccess) — Rock legend and Credence Clearwater songwriter and frontman John Fogerty says he is ‘confused’ by U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued use of the CCR hit ‘Fortunate Son’ at political rallies.
In an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar, Fogerty said that he finds Trump’s use of the song both confounding and awkwardly ironic, noting that the song could have easily been written about the President.
“The president has been using my song Fortunate Son for his political rallies, which I find confounding, to say the least. I wrote the song back in 1969 and back in those days, we still had a draft and something I was very upset about was that people of privilege, in other words, rich people, or people that had position, could use that and not be taken into the military. I found it very upsetting that that could occur and that’s why I wrote Fortunate Son, that’s really what the whole intent of the song…that was the inspiration for the song,” Fogerty said.
“The very first lines of fortunate son are ‘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.’ Well, that’s exactly what happened at Lafayette Park, when the president decided to take a walk across the park, he cleared out the area using federal troops so he could stand in front of St. John’s Chuch with a bible. It’s a song I could have written now 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’,” Fogerty added.
Trump was deemed fit for military service after a medical exam in 2016 and later classified as eligible for the draft in 1968 but later that same year, he received a medical deferment after a private physician due to ‘bone spurs.’
“I had a doctor that gave me a letter — a very strong letter on the heels,” Trump told the New York Times.
Despite the affliction, Mr. Trump was able to enjoy athletics during his undergraduate studies at Fordham, including squash, football and tennis.
Fogerty joins an already long and growing list of musicians who are opposed to Mr. Trump’s use of their music at his political events. Other artists expressing dismay include Neil Young, who has filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement, R.E.M., Twisted Sister, Adele, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Estate of George Harrison, Steven Tyler, Pharrell Williams, the Estate of Prince, Rihanna, Guns n’ Roses, Ozzy, Tom Petty’s Estate, Leonard Cohen’s Estate, and Eddy Grant, who has also sued the Trump campaign.
Most recently, Genesis’s Phil Collins has joined the fray who this week hit the Trump Campaign with a cease and desist order after ‘In The Air Tonight’ was played at a campaign rally this week.
“Yes, we are well aware of the Trump campaign’s use of this song and we have already issued a ‘cease and desist’ letter via our lawyers who continue to monitor the situation,” a rep for Collins said in a statement to Consequence of Sound.
