Many theorists have projected their thoughts and theories in articles which they have written and who many have made their articles accessible to the public via internet. The philosophers who we have been focusing on have been Walter Benjamin and John Burger. Benjamin’s article "Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" is the article which intrigued me the most, and it is also his most famous philosophical essay. One of his main points which is vividly mentioned throughout his essay is his theory of aura. He explains how aura has changed throughout time and will continue to change due to the lack of originality and creativity, by definition aura is the distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing, or place. Knowing the meaning of aura can change the way an individual looks at a piece of art because they will know how to actually appreciate the originality or the certain artwork. I will be analyzing the song “Fortunate Son” by The Creedence Clearwater Revival and incorporating it will Benjamin’s theory of aura and film production; consequently, I believe that when you listen to a song with visual context it gives you an emotional connection depending on the aura which surrounds you.
The Great Revival
The Creedence Clearwater Revival one of the most influential bands in the 60’s, their music is still played by modern society today. In fact, the reason I know about them is because my father was a big fan of CCR and “Fortunate Son” was one of my father and I favorite songs and it holds great meaning. This song was a protest against the Vietnam war which occurred in 1954 and it ended in 1974, it was a battle against the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The song “Fortunate Son” was an anthem against the Vietnam war because The entire song is built upon the idea that there is as a clear separation fortunate sons and the unfortunate sons in America. For the fortunate sons, "born with silver spoon in hand," ( which is a lyric in the song) life is good. The fortunate sons were protected by class privilege and a discriminatory military draft system that favored the wealthy and well educated, they never had to worry about being drafted to serve a tour of duty in the Vietnam war. They have the luxury of seeing the war as nothing more than idea, something they hear about on the news. They're free to support the war without having to face the consequences, unlike the unfortunate sons which are also mentioned in the song. The unfortunate sons of America, who have no inherited wealth or privilege to protect them, the draft is likely to send them off to the jungles of Vietnam to fight and maybe die.
Bubba, The Unfortunate Man
The song “Fortunate Son” was featured in the hit movie Forrest Gump, a story about a young man who was always different from the rest of the kids in Greenbow, Alabama. He a bit slow but he had a magnificent heart, he was in love with a woman named Jenny and would follow her anywhere. Along his journey he stumbled into playing college football which resulted in him graduating from the University of Alabama. On his graduation day he was approached by a soldier who suggested him to enter the army. He took this opportunity and entered the army, the scene that is significant to this essay when Forrest Gump and his best friend, Bubba, were flown to station in Vietnam This is the scene when the song “Fortunate Son” first appears. In the movie Bubba would be seen as the unfortunate man which The Creedence Clearwater Revival preach about in their beautiful song, Bubba was a poor humble man who dreamed of being the captain of a shrimp boat, he later dies in the movie proving the point that the unfortunate man pays the ultimate price in the battle field. When listening to this song without any sense of history or knowledge of Benjamin’s theory of aura an individual would not appreciate the song as well. I am a prime example of this theory, because I experienced how a visual context can change your perspective on a movie.
Gump and Aura
As I mentioned earlier, my father introduced me to the incredible band who is, the Creedence Clearwater Revival. I remember the day I first heard the songs of Creedence Clearwater Revival, I was in the car with my father and we were making our way back home from one of my soccer practices in San Jose, he usually tuned the radio onto a news station but for some reason today he played something different. He connected his phone and choose the song “Fortunate Son” by the Creedence Clearwater Revival, at first this song struck me as a fun song to just rock out to with my dad. At first, when I heard the beat of the song I didn’t think much of it..I even thought the song was sang by Kid Rock because it reminded me of his song American Woman. I was completely wrong, Fortunate son is nothing like American Woman. They repeated the verse “It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son” I was oblivious to the meaning of the lyrics. Once the song was over I still thought nothing of the meaning. That all changed once I first watched the movie Forrest Gump and came across the scene where the song Fortunate Son first appeared. Now that I had a visual context to connect the song to the song came to life, I could see how the men in the war were unfortunate. From grasping the material and theories that were presented in Walter Benjamin’s article "Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" I can now understand the meaning of aura and how it connects to the modern world and our visual contexts. The first time I heard the song “Fortunate Son” I did not appreciate the song for what it really was, for its originality, I only appreciated the song when it was duplicated into a movie which provided situations which related to the song. What Benjamin mentions in his essay is how aura affects the experience of an individual when dealing with any type of art. When I first heard the song Fortunate Son, I was just listening to it to have a good time and rock out with my dad.I did not appreciate the song, but if I had gone to a quiet room, had just finished watching a movie about the Vietnam war, or had even listened to the song with war veterans I would have felt I different connection to the song. It is all about the atmosphere in which you present the art to yourself.
The Creedence Clearwater Revival one of the most influential bands in the 60’s, their music is still played by modern society today. In fact, the reason I know about them is because my father was a big fan of CCR and “Fortunate Son” was one of my father and I favorite songs and it holds great meaning. This song was a protest against the Vietnam war which occurred in 1954 and it ended in 1974, it was a battle against the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The song “Fortunate Son” was an anthem against the Vietnam war because The entire song is built upon the idea that there is as a clear separation fortunate sons and the unfortunate sons in America. For the fortunate sons, "born with silver spoon in hand," ( which is a lyric in the song) life is good. The fortunate sons were protected by class privilege and a discriminatory military draft system that favored the wealthy and well educated, they never had to worry about being drafted to serve a tour of duty in the Vietnam war. They have the luxury of seeing the war as nothing more than idea, something they hear about on the news. They're free to support the war without having to face the consequences, unlike the unfortunate sons which are also mentioned in the song. The unfortunate sons of America, who have no inherited wealth or privilege to protect them, the draft is likely to send them off to the jungles of Vietnam to fight and maybe die.
Bubba, The Unfortunate Man
The song “Fortunate Son” was featured in the hit movie Forrest Gump, a story about a young man who was always different from the rest of the kids in Greenbow, Alabama. He a bit slow but he had a magnificent heart, he was in love with a woman named Jenny and would follow her anywhere. Along his journey he stumbled into playing college football which resulted in him graduating from the University of Alabama. On his graduation day he was approached by a soldier who suggested him to enter the army. He took this opportunity and entered the army, the scene that is significant to this essay when Forrest Gump and his best friend, Bubba, were flown to station in Vietnam This is the scene when the song “Fortunate Son” first appears. In the movie Bubba would be seen as the unfortunate man which The Creedence Clearwater Revival preach about in their beautiful song, Bubba was a poor humble man who dreamed of being the captain of a shrimp boat, he later dies in the movie proving the point that the unfortunate man pays the ultimate price in the battle field. When listening to this song without any sense of history or knowledge of Benjamin’s theory of aura an individual would not appreciate the song as well. I am a prime example of this theory, because I experienced how a visual context can change your perspective on a movie.
Gump and Aura
As I mentioned earlier, my father introduced me to the incredible band who is, the Creedence Clearwater Revival. I remember the day I first heard the songs of Creedence Clearwater Revival, I was in the car with my father and we were making our way back home from one of my soccer practices in San Jose, he usually tuned the radio onto a news station but for some reason today he played something different. He connected his phone and choose the song “Fortunate Son” by the Creedence Clearwater Revival, at first this song struck me as a fun song to just rock out to with my dad. At first, when I heard the beat of the song I didn’t think much of it..I even thought the song was sang by Kid Rock because it reminded me of his song American Woman. I was completely wrong, Fortunate son is nothing like American Woman. They repeated the verse “It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son” I was oblivious to the meaning of the lyrics. Once the song was over I still thought nothing of the meaning. That all changed once I first watched the movie Forrest Gump and came across the scene where the song Fortunate Son first appeared. Now that I had a visual context to connect the song to the song came to life, I could see how the men in the war were unfortunate. From grasping the material and theories that were presented in Walter Benjamin’s article "Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" I can now understand the meaning of aura and how it connects to the modern world and our visual contexts. The first time I heard the song “Fortunate Son” I did not appreciate the song for what it really was, for its originality, I only appreciated the song when it was duplicated into a movie which provided situations which related to the song. What Benjamin mentions in his essay is how aura affects the experience of an individual when dealing with any type of art. When I first heard the song Fortunate Son, I was just listening to it to have a good time and rock out with my dad.I did not appreciate the song, but if I had gone to a quiet room, had just finished watching a movie about the Vietnam war, or had even listened to the song with war veterans I would have felt I different connection to the song. It is all about the atmosphere in which you present the art to yourself.
Cynthia Sanchez is a member of the women's soccer team at CSUN