Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has teamed up with Bruce Springsteen and Zac Brown to cover Creedence Clearwater Revival’s blistering track Fortunate Son. The trio covered the classic song as part of The Concert of Valor, established to honour US troops on Veteran’s Day, in Washington, DC.
That all sounds fine and dandy, and very awesome. The trouble is CCR’s Fortunate Son is widely considered an anti-war protest song. Far be it from Feeds to cross The Boss, but with lyrics like It ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, some eyebrows were raised as to why Springsteen, Grohl, and Brown chose this particular song to play at this particular gig.
As neo-conservative opinion site The Weekly Standard points out, Fortunate Son was released in ’69 during the Vietnam War as an “anti-draft song”. The Washington Post argues that CCR main man John Fogerty performed Fortunate Son only a few days earlier for the White House’s tribute to the troops, saying the song’s message is specific to the era it comes from.
Whatever the case, the crowd seems to love it and it would have damn cool to see Grohl, Springsteen, and Brown share the stage. The Concert of Valor also featured Eminem, The Black Keys, Metallica, and Rihanna. You can watch the performance below.
