“Fortunate Son” is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival released on their album Willy and the Poor Boys in 1969. It was released as a single, together with “Down on the Corner”, in September 1969. This song reached #14 on the United States charts on 22 November 1969, the week before Billboard changed its methodology on double-sided hits. The tracks combined to climb to #9 the next week, on the way to peaking at #3 three more weeks later, on 20 December 1969. It won the RIAA Gold Disc award in December 1970. Pitchfork Media placed it at number 17 on its list of “The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s”. Rolling Stone placed it at #99 on its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list. In 2014, the song was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The song is a counterculture era anti-war anthem, criticizing militant patriotic behavior and those who support the use of military force without having to “pay the costs” themselves (either financially or by serving in a wartime military). The song, released during the Vietnam War, is not explicit in its criticism of that war in particular, but the clear attacks on the elite classes (the families that give birth to “fortunate sons”) of United States and their withdrawal from the costs of nationalistic imperialism are easy to contextualize to that conflict. The song was inspired by the wedding of David Eisenhower, the grandson of President Dwight David Eisenhower, to Julie Nixon, the daughter of President Richard Nixon, in 1968. The song’s author and singer, John Fogerty, told Rolling Stone:

“Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war. In 1968, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and eighty percent of them were in favor of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble.”

“Comfortably Numb” (working title “The Doctor”) is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, which first appears on the 1979 double album The Wall. It was also released as a single in 1980 with “Hey You” as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between guitarist David Gilmour and bassist Roger Waters. The chorus melody was written by Gilmour while Waters contributed the lyrics and the music for the verses. An early version of the song was included under the working title on the “Immersion Box Set” of The Wall, released in 2012.

The song is one of Pink Floyd’s most famous, and is renowned especially for its guitar solos in the middle and at the end of the song. In 2004, the song was ranked number 314 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2005, it became the last song ever to be performed by Waters, Gilmour, keyboardist Richard Wright, and drummer Nick Mason together. In 2011, the song was ranked 5th in the BBC Radio 4’s listeners’ Desert Island Discs choices. The two guitar solos were ranked as the greatest guitar solos of all time by both Planet Rock listeners and WatchMojo.com.

The Wall is a concept album about Pink, an embittered and alienated rock star. This song compares Pink’s memories of being feverishly ill as a child with his feeling nothing at all in adulthood. The lyrics feature interplay between a doctor treating the adult Pink (verses, sung by Waters) and Pink’s inner monologue (chorus, sung by Gilmour).

“No Rain” is a song by American alternative rock group Blind Melon, which was written by the bass player Brad Smith. It was released in September 1992 as the second single from the band’s debut album Blind Melon. The song is well known for its accompanying music video, which features the “Bee Girl” character. The music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, received heavy airplay on MTV at the time of its release. It subsequently helped propel Blind Melon to a multi-platinum level. It is one of my favorite songs because it has such an upbeat vibe and always improves my mood. 

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Gimme Shelter is the #1 best Rolling Stones song ever. I couldn’t agree more because that is my favorite song of all time. It has the perfect beat to satisfy any crowd. It embodies so many factors that define that generation. The song itself is somewhat of a history lesson about the Vietnam War because that was a huge social issue of that time. It clearly has rock and roll aspects but then the back up singers bring it an almost Gospel vibe. And not to mention the back up singers (who got little credit or show time) were African American females. Here is what Rolling Stone Mag had to say about it :

“That’s a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It’s apocalypse; the whole record’s like that,” Jagger told Rolling Stone in 1995, describing “Gimme Shelter.” Like nothing else in rock & roll, the song embodies the physical experience of living through a tumultuous historical moment. It’s the Stones‘ perfect storm: the ultimate Sixties eulogy and rock’s greatest bad-trip anthem, with the gathering power of soul music and a chaotic drive to beat any punk rock. The song was born during a pounding English rainstorm. “It was just a terrible fucking day,” Richards recalled. He was killing time in the apartment of English art-scene guru Robert Fraser while girlfriend Anita Pallenberg was on set making Performance, a film in which she beds down with Jagger. With chords ghosted by a droning E-note, the music radiated dread – clearly inspired by a mix of Jimmy Reed’s trance-inducing blues,Richards‘ own romantic anxiety, and ­heroin, which he’d just begun using. It took him about 20 minutes or so to get down the basics, which were fleshed out over several sessions in London and Los Angeles during 1969. The finished version is something entirely new for the Stones, with a slithering Watts-Wyman groove and full gospel-style backing vocals; New Orleans-born Merry Clayton was asked to sing on the track because the band’s first choice, Bonnie Bramlett, was unavailable, and she seized the opportunity, wailing, “Rape, murder! It’s just a shot away!” like the end times were nigh. When the band played the song at Altamont, minutes before concertgoer Meredith Hunter was stabbed, the lines seemed like grim prophecy. Richards later said that his guitar fell apart during the recording, “as if by design.”

I’ve always loved Simon and Garfunkel because of their ability to tell a story with pain staking honesty. I think everyone at some point in their lives can relate to this song and understand what they are talking about. They don’t sugar coat it or make songs to just jam to. They make music that brings you somewhere. Old feelings can resurface, past experiences, anything. And with all that, its a great song even if you don’t chose to understand it.

Homeward Bound

I’m sittin in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
On a tour of one-night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one-man band

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought’s escaping
Home, where my music’s playing
Home,where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Every day’s an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And every stranger’s face I see
Remind me that I long to be

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought’s escaping
Home, where my music’s playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Tonight I’ll sing my songs again
I’ll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought’s escaping
Home, where my music’s playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

John Lennon had the initial idea for Day Tripper, and collaborated with McCartney to complete the song. Written at Kenwood, Lennon’s house in Weybridge, Surrey in October 1965, the song is based on a 12-bar blues in E, switching up a tone (F#) for the chorus.

“That was a co-written effort; we were both there making it all up but I would give John the main credit. Probably the idea came from John because he sang the lead, but it was a close thing. We both put a lot of work in on it.”

The song was a knowing reference to the burgeoning drugs-based counterculture of the mid-1960s. ‘Day tripper’ was a slang term for someone who failed to fully embrace the hippy lifestyle.

“That’s mine. Including the lick, the guitar break and the whole bit. It’s just a rock ‘n’ roll song. Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But it was kind of – you know, you’re just a weekend hippie. Get it?”

This is a place to expand on knowledge of my favorite type of music. Primarily, the focus is 60s-70s classic rock. I will post music videos, songs, lyrics and pictures of performances and people I find cool. Enjoy the memorabilia and share anything you think I would like!