Critical Introduction & Texts

About Us

Hello readers, thank you for exploring our blog; it is an honor to share our thoughts with you. We are four undergraduate students who attend the University of Maryland,College Park- Oluwatobi Ajide, Jordyn Berry, Mihir Powers, and Dylan D'Andrea. Our goal was to compare and contrast two pieces of anti-war rhetoric from the 1960’s; more specifically texts that criticized the draft. Both the song “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Kiyoshi Kuromiya’s poster “Fuck The Draft” use ethos and a strong appeal to pathos to express the feelings of anger and discontents held by the draftees and their families during the Vietnam War.

Both texts were published in the late 1960’s within a year of one another at the height of the Vietnam war, and have a strong anti-draft sentiment. In “Fortunate Son”  CCR attempts to show how unfair the draft was to all but the richest and luckiest young men. It indirectly protests the Vietnam war by making it clear that many young men have no desire to serve, but are forced to anyway. “Fuck the Draft” takes a much more direct approach. It uses frank boldfaced text and a striking image to show outright rejection of the draft and the war as a whole, encouraging people to take action and protest. Both texts were published in the late 1960’s within a year of one another at the height of the Vietnam war.

We chose to focus on these two texts because while they both were published around the same time and attacked the same issue, they have very different philosophies on how to express their message. The narrator of “Fortunate Son” is a dejected draftee whose views are meant to reflect the views of young men at the time, and in turn make the audience question the country’s actions at the time. The poster overtly denounces the draft and the war. It too is meant to be sympathetic to those people who were facing the draft and their families, but instead of force the audience to question what the country was doing, it takes the argument one step further and pushes them to act out in defiance.

Now, the order of the analyses within the blog is admittedly a little strange, but we agreed that it was most important to analyse the kairos and audience of both texts first, because it is important to have the proper historical context before trying to understand the appeals the creators made. We discussed the social climate around the draft at the time, and also considered the countercultural following that both texts were primarily made for. Next we wanted to explore the extrinsic ethos of the creators of the texts, and how they used strong appeals to pathos to bring their similar opinions across in such different ways.  Once the creators, the time period, and the feelings present were all established, we finished up by explaining the main idea of each text and why they were exigent, taking into account all the previous information.

We hope the blog has enlightened you all to the opinions of people in the late 1960’s draft time, and given you a new insight on an old topic. We also encourage you all to take something away from this analysis. Maybe even try and compare the arguments made here to modern anti-war sentiments and ask yourself what has changed in the past 60 years.

"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no

Anti-draft Poster:

Exigence of "Fuck the Draft"

            The exigence of this poster derives from everyone’s building hate for the draft. People were being drafted constantly and everyone began to get tired of it. The teenager burning the draft is because no one wanted to be drafted into the war. It stopped being a patriotic thing and started to feel like they were being forcibly dragged into it. There were many people protesting the draft and fighting. This poster meant a lot to the movement and exemplifies the feelings of many. People began to burn actual draft tickets and were being fined for it, some even sent to jail. Even to this day the idea of the draft is hated.

            

Stasis/Main Argument of FTD

The main argument of the "Fuck the Draft" poster is a criticism of the draft used in the Vietnam War and of its ethics and rational. The draft was famously used during the Vietnam War in a fight that many Americans did not want to get involved in. The draft was initiated because the US government could not gain enough support from the American people (except from the rich) to join the military and get involved in the war. Lower-class citizens and minorities believed that the draft unfairly chose them rather than the upper class and wealthy people. The people who least wanted to get involved in the conflict were the most impacted by the war, paying the highest price for the battles of others. In the poster, the pictures highlights the anger towards this unfairness and and gives an uncensored opinion of blue collar perspective in the 1960s. The poster calls for Americans to stand up against the draft and calls for the government to get rid of the draft. Although this poster doesn't specifically cite who should take action, the poster appeals toward the American people standing up for their rights and their safety by commanding the people to not follow the draft. Going back to the poster's overall message, the intent of its message was not to go into detail of all the things wrong with the draft; it does simply point to the draft being wrongly used and bluntly criticizes it. It takes little words to communicate the detriment the draft had on America's families and youth and this picture is an attempt to show the raw emotion against the war as a whole and its methods.

Audience for "Fuck the Draft"

There is a wide range of people for who is the intended audience for this poster. During the time period, many young men would be looking at this poster and appreciate its message. Men from the ages of 18-35 were all affected by the draft. At any time their number could be called upon and they would be called out to serve. Many believed the war should have finished many years prior to its actual end. The war was drawn out, and a lot more people were sent in then should’ve been. Mothers as well are apart of this intended audience. In their eyes their children were being taken away from them and being sent to fight at a young age. No one liked the draft and this type of poster resonated deeply with a lot of people.

Ethos of Anti-war Poster (FTD)

The highly controversial Anti-draft poster was created by Kiyoshi Kuromiya, an important civil rights and gay rights activist who was born in a Japanese-American internment camp in 1943. According to Kuromiya, the man on the poster was a young person from the Detroit who was doing prison time for burning his draft card. Kuromiya's ethos in this poster was extrinsic because this poster appeared in an underground radical newspaper made specifically for his counter-cultural audience. Before even knowing what his intention was in this poster, Kuromiya's audience already was aware of his experience in anti-war and political activism, therefore making his appeal to ethos extrinsic. This poster was used alongside a call for people to send the picture to famous mothers in politics as a political message against the Vietnam War. The text's ability to call for so much action and to garner so much attention with so little features speaks to Kuromiya's persuasiveness and the text's efficacy. I believe this text is so effective because of its shock value. The text's bold caption catches the eye and draws the viewer's attention towards the image. The poster's efficacy is high because the bold statement it makes causes people to question the draft and its purpose as well as the war itself and who it is affecting. This text brings into the question the ethics of the draft and of the war itself.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/fuck_the_draft_the_amazing_story_of_kiyoshi_kuromiya_creator_of_the_iconic

Pathos of 'Fuck the Draft'

The first thing the audience may notice about this poster, besides the rather blunt wording, would be the curious expression on the man's face. It's a sort of half smile, a expression that says he thinks burning his draft card is a cheeky thing to do. Of course, doing such a thing would have been interpreted as borderline treasonous at the time, especially to the older generation, those who generally supported the war. That expression flies in the face of the grave, serious nature of the draft, and says to its audience that it's okay to object, we think it's unfair too. The expression contrasts the shock factor of seeing someone burn their draft card at that point in time, which can even be interpreted as an act of fearlessness. The boldfaced vulgar caption only adds to this attitude. The poster was mean to provoke a feeling of confidence, and empower draft objectors who were being persecuted by society. It appeals to feelings of power and determination in these young people, bringing up the spirits of those who felt as if their own country saw them as cowards. Who can call someone a coward who so boldly stands behind their opinions?

Stases of "Fortunate Son"

The song "Fortunate Son" focuses on the facts, the consequences, action and jurisdiction of the stasis theory. Through facts, the song identifies that during the Vietnam War, men were drafted to fight in the war. "Ohh, they send you down to war, Lord...How much should we give...More! more!... If you are drafted you have to fight in the war- which is the consequence of being drafted. But the overall the definition, the song, is trying to explain is that certain people are excused from the draft- the "fortunate one[s]." They are the rich people's sons that paid their way out of being drafted like others.  So it just means that the "senator" and the  "millionaire" actually decide who gets drafted since they eliminated their sons from the draft- which means the poor people are left to fight the war. A war the that the "senator" created- congress has the power declare war according to the constitution. Even though it is not directed stated in the song, the band, Creedence Clearwater Revival wants the voice of the unheard to be heard and the bias in the drafting of men to be changed.

Pathos in 'Fortunate Son'

As previously mentioned, the song appeals to an audience of young men who at the time probably felt pretty helpless. The song, with its scratchy vocals and distorted guitars, appeals to feelings of anger in this disenfranchised audience. The lyrics have a slightly different bent, and can be interpreted one of two ways. The first is that the speaker in the song feels down on his luck, and those lyrics appeal to the emotions of drafted men who have been picked out by society and have pity on themselves. The other interpretation is that the lyrics are meant to be prideful, as if to say 'yeah, I'm not one of those rich boys that can get off scot-free; I suffer with the rest of them,' in which case the song is more of an attack at the upper classes who didn't have as much pressure in the draft. This makes the song appeal to the righteous attitudes of all those who didn't want to serve, but did it anyway to avoid the shame of dodging the draft - keep in mind that standpoint existed regardless of whether or not you supported the war. In either case, the emotions in the song reflect the spectrum of feelings that draftees definitely had at the time. Whether you were solemnly being shipped off to Vietnam, or were going out of a sense of duty and were angry at those who didn't serve along side you, the speaker in 'Fortunate Son' sympathizes with you.

Kairos for "Fuck the Draft" Photo

Kiyoshi Kuromiya’s  “Fuck the Draft” poster was a very iconic anti-war poster. It was created in 1968 and was part of the April 12 1968 issue of the Berkely Barb. The Berkely Barb was an underground newspaper form California and was a very influential counterculture newspaper that covered the anti-war movement, and civil rights movement as well as social changes of the time. This poster came out in the height of the Vietnam War. At this point people were getting extremely fed up with the war and just wanted the war to be over.  Mothers were tired of having their sons being drafted, and a lot of people were confused as to why we were still sending soldiers to Vietnam. Young men began to protest the draft because people began seeing videos of Vietnam and they did not want to commit the atrocities they were seeing. This post represents a lot of what was going on in the time and could have a lot of people relate. 

Ethos of "Fortunate Son"

The Ethos of the song "Fortunate Son" heavy relies on the extrinsic of the band, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Two members of the group were drafted in 1966. John Fogerty and Doug Clifford were drafted to serve in the military. John joined the Army Reserve , while Doug joined the Coast Guard Reserve. In their song "Fortunate Son" they actually spoke from experience. Considering themselves as one of the " no fortunate one," with the constant use of "I." They could not pay their way out of being drafted into the military like "senator's son." With a close connection to the common issue being informed by the song, the audience would feel more eager to listen to the song or use it to get their message across. 

Info on the Band

Exigence in "Fortunate Son"

Exigency means the state requiring effort or immediate action. "Fortunate Son" was sung by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a Rock band, in 1969.During this time period, the Vietnam War was still active. The song "Fortunate Son" itself was not meant to discourage the war the song "Blowin' In The Wind"(Refer to post on blog) considered too long but to state the special treatment that enforced when drafting soldiers for the war. The title "Fortunate Son" itself gives a glimpse of what the song is about. Which is that "fortunate son" are not drafted at all for the war but those that "ain't no fortunate one" are drafted fight for "senator[s]." Rich people's son pay their way out of being drafted in the war but the poor people fight the war that rich people(senators) created. That is the exigence that the song was trying to get at, which is that, it is not fair and people should be treated equally no matter their class.

Exigency in "Blowin' In The Wind"

Exigency means the state requiring effort or immediate action. "Blowin' In The Wind" was sung by Bob Dylan in 1963. During this time period, the Vietnam War was still active and African American were still being discriminated. Throughout the song, Bob Dylan asked a series of question, which he believed was the problem. All the questions he stated or asked were always asking "How many," this  signifies as that thing like the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement  have been happening for a while and when are there going to stop or get noticed. Lines like, "how many deaths will it take till he know..many people have died?" or " how may years can some people exist...to be free?" captured situations that were going on during the time period when the music was released. The answer to all the issues was simplified by Bob Dylan to one line- which was, " blowing in the wind." The exigence in Bob Dylan's  Blowin' In The Wind" song was that all these issues  are going on and the solution to these issues was in front of us. He wanted the war to stop and also wanted people to be treated equally because these issues have been going on too long.

Kairos of Elvis Presley's "If I can Dream"

Elvis Presley's "If I can Dream" was a strong and very meaningful song that meant a lot for the 60's age and for the time around which it came out. The song was recorded June 1968, 2 months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and even the name of the song is obviously in reference to the tragic event. The lyrics "If I can dream of a better land, where all my brothers walk hand in hand" is in direct relation to King's quote " I have a dream that one day [...] little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hand with little white boys and little white girls". The song was also released in the prime of Elvis' career. At that time whenever a song was released by him, everyone heard it. This song in particular hit Billboards Top 100 and stayed for 13 weeks reaching at its highest the #12 spot. To this day it is considered by many as one of his deepest songs. 

Kairos of Fortunate Son

The song Fortunate Son was released in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War, when most young men in America faced the scary prospect of being drafted into a war many of them thought was unjust. It was widely acknowledged at the time that men who had a decent amount of money and/or a high position in society could finesse their way out of the draft. The average man didn't have that luxury, short of running to Canada. The song acknowledges this injustice; the "fortunate son" refers to men who could get out of the draft. The song is sympathetic to the every-man who was essentially doomed to go to war, speaking for them: "It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son". It's also important to keep in mind that opposition to the war was largely an unpopular opinion at the time, although it doesn't seem like that in hindsight. This means that the song was powerful because it spoke for the young men who maybe didn't have the courage to speak out against the draft for themselves.

Audience of "Fortunate Son"

     The anti-war anthem "Fortunate Son," by Creedence Clearwater Revival, was a booming call against the Vietnam War. Released in 1969, this song appealed to all the people of the lower and middle classes who were the most affected by the war, who also were the ones that had the most distaste for the war. The song's lyrics echo the angers of the poor, "Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand... Lord don't they help themselves, y'all. But when the taxman comes to the door Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale." Here, the song speak directly to the average American and tells them how the rich keep arguing for the war and supporting it, but they always seem to escape being drafted or having to pay for it. They don't pay the taxes for the war effort and they don't lose their lives over it either. John Fogerty, the lead singer of the song, uses different names for the rich like "fortunate one, senator's son, millionaire's son," to emphasize the people that he is criticizing. Everyone else are the one's paying the price and the song is urging them to take notice of this fault in society and to go against the war.
     The message of this tune and it overall sound made this song become extremely popular to middle America and has since been heard in nearly every movie that references the Vietnam War, Although the song never directly cites the Vietnam War as its subject, its attacks against the social elite and the nationalistic imperialism of the United States are parallel to the issues towards the Vietnam War. Anyone and everyone from farmers to teachers took grasp of this song as their anthem and call for an end to the Vietnam War.

Read more about the song here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-fogerty-addresses-fortunate-son-concert-for-valor-controversy-20141113

Audience of "For What it's Worth"

"For What it's Worth" was released in 1966 and written by Stephen Stills. Still wrote the song due to the inspiration he got from the "SUNSET STRIP CURFEW RIOTS." The line " There's something happening here" was referring to the riot, which is asking for the purpose of the riot. Stills intended audience of the song were the police and the children who were participating in the riot with the reputation of " Children, what's that sound?" The song was then picked up as an anti-war song specifically for the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War  "was a long, costly armed conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam and its southern allies..., against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States." As a result of the war, many troops died.

Being used as an anti-war demonstration against the Vietnam war its intended audience was the government- "We better stop." This quote emphasizes on the intention of the protestors and what they want- which is no war. Trying to convince them to not participate in a worthless war where "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong". This line in the song explains how each side( the protestors and the government) try to justify why each group is wrong and if they both believe each other as being wrong, then no one is right. To deploy troops back to the United States so they can be with their family., which was some of the reasons the protesters were against the war including the toll it had on the economy.

Sights And Sounds Of The November 1966 Sunset Strip Riots

Texts

"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no

Anti-draft Poster: