John Fogerty Explains the Unusual Way He Wrote ‘Fortunate Son’

Rocker John Fogerty is opening up about how one of his most famous songs came together—and why it was unlike anything else he had written.

In a video shared on YouTube, the former frontman of Creedence Clearwater Revival, now 80, reflected on the origins of the band’s 1969 hit Fortunate Son. Fogerty said the song was both the longest and the shortest writing process of his career.

“This song is unusual in a couple of ways,” he explained. “It probably took the longest for me to write, and at the same time, it was also the quickest song I ever wrote.”

Fogerty traced the roots of the song back to his childhood. He recalled watching the 1953 inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower while in second grade. What stood out to him wasn’t the ceremony itself, but the line of large black limousines.

“Even at that young age, I was a little suspicious of people driving around in fancy big black cars,” he said. That moment sparked an early curiosity—and skepticism—about politics and power.

As he grew older, Fogerty continued to notice how wealth and influence shaped public life. He remembered watching political conventions on television and hearing phrases like “favorite son,” a term used to promote prominent political figures. Coming from a modest background, he said the idea stuck with him.

Those feelings returned years later during the Vietnam era. Fogerty was drafted in 1966 and eventually served in an Army Reserve unit. While he was grateful for his assignment, he couldn’t ignore news stories about wealthy or well-connected families finding ways to keep their sons out of military service.

“That just didn’t seem fair,” he said.

By the summer of 1969, those thoughts had built up. Fogerty began working on a song originally called “Favorite Son,” drawing on his frustrations with class inequality, politics, and privilege. The band rehearsed the music for weeks, but the lyrics still hadn’t come together.

Realizing they were close to recording, Fogerty finally sat down alone in his bedroom with a legal pad. That’s when everything clicked.

“Somewhere in that process, the idea switched to ‘Fortunate Son,’” he said. “All those thoughts just came out in a raging torrent.”

In just 20 minutes, the song was finished.

“I walked into the room with nothing,” Fogerty recalled, “and walked out with a completed song called ‘Fortunate Son.’ That was by far the quickest I’ve ever written a song.”

More than 50 years later, the track remains one of the most powerful and enduring protest songs in American rock history.