John Fogerty Defends Bruce Springsteen’s Veterans Day Performance of ‘Fortunate Son’
John Fogerty. (Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
By Shannon Carlin
For those who were upset by Bruce Springsteen‘s decision to perform “Fortunate Son” at the Concert For Valor in Washington D.C. on Veterans Day, John Fogerty—the songwriter behind the 1969 track—says to cool it.
Fogerty took to his Facebook to defend Springsteen’s performance of the song at the concert honoring veterans writing that the song was written during a different time, “during the Vietnam War over forty-five years ago” when an “ultra conservative administration” tried to paint anyone who didn’t agree with them as “un-American.” It’s this same administration, Fogerty writes, that “shamefully ignored and mistreated the soldiers returning from Vietnam. “
Related: Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, Zac Brown Perform ‘Fortunate Son’ at Concert for Valor: Watch
“As an American and a songwriter I am proud that the song still has resonance,” he wrote. “I do believe that its meaning gets misinterpreted and even usurped by various factions wishing to make their own case. At its core I believe the issue is really about what a great country we have that a song like this can be performed in a setting like Concert For Valor.”
