"There but for Fortune" is a song by Phil Ochs (12/19/40 - 4/9/76). Most writers described his music as "protest songs", Ochs preferred the term "topical songs". One of his earlier songs, Phil Ochs wrote the song in 1963 and recorded it twice, for New Folks Volume 2 (Vanguard, 1964) and Phil Ochs in Concert (Elektra, 1966). Joan Baez also recorded "There but for Fortune" in 1964 on Joan Baez/5. While many of Och's songs were politically radical, this one is more poetic and lyrical. I learned it from the Joan Baez album.