This is a brief departure from Que's usual material.
Normal service will be restored as soon as possible.
CAUTION: If you wish to continue to enjoy the song without knowing exactly what it is about, it might not be a good idea to read the lyrics below!
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YouTube page :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmEGm-mraE
Released in 1969 by Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by John Fogerty. It was the lead single from their album Green River, and the group’s breakthrough hit.
(It was released in the same year as the Woodstock Festival and the first steps on the Moon by Neil Armstrong.)
BAD MOON RISING
I see the bad moon rising
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today
CHORUS:
Don't go 'round tonight
Well, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes ablowing
I know the end is coming soon
I fear rivers over flowing
I hear the voice of wreckers and ruin
CHORUS
All right!
Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye
CHORUS
CHORUS
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When you see the lyrics you probably get a different impression of the song.
Obviously it is about death and destruction due to earthquakes, lightning, hurricanes, and flooding.
Note the line in the second verse, "I know the end is coming soon".
(I don't think it means the end of the song...)
Also the last line, "One eye is taken for an eye." Perhaps that is a religious reference to some people having to suffer in the same way that they offended.
Are your impressions the same as mine, or are they entirely different?
A few comments from the YouTube page :-
"I remember hearing this song, I always liked it. But damn, I never realized the lyrics were so dark, or deep. I like it even more now I think, lol."
"Such an upbeat music for a song about bad omens."
"Maybe murders, robberies, explosions, and bad weather have happened all throughout history. You never know. Maybe the end of the world was 100 years ago..."
"Incredible song... - when music was still true and could touch your soul."
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Open Thread
1 hour ago
3 comments:
I've been hearing that song (30+yrs) since I was a kid, but I wasn't listening to the lyrics. "I see a bad moon rising, I see trouble on the way, Looks like we're in for nasty weather, something something something something da da daa, is all that ever stayed in my head. It was a good tune and everyone liked it but we didn't know that's what it was saying.
Maybe artists should publish the lyrics with the album all the time.
Thanks Q. That was an eyeopener.
Although they were a San Francisco Bay area band, Credence specialized in voodoo swamp music, peculiar to the Mississippi Delta region of the Southern USA. Some of the same themes you noted run through other songs in their body of music, and are exemplified by the songs "Born on the Bayou", "I'll Put a Spell on You", and others.
I'm sure these lyrics gave many a WCG minister reinforcement for sermonettes about rock n roll being the devil's music. Basically it was an exercise in the macabre. Alice Cooper explored quite a number of disturbing themes, as did the Rolling Stones and others. Alice is a born again Christian and has a franchised nightly radio program heard around the world.
BB
Thanks for the comments and info, Jack and BB.
It was in the 1980s when I first listened a bit closer to the lyrics. Unfortunately that ruined it for me, because after that I usually wanted to turn it down, when it was on the radio, because I knew what it was about. However I still liked the tune and the good work by the musicians. It was frustrating!
I had heard that it was called swamp music, and I knew that bayous were in the Delta region. I'm going to have to listen closer to 'Born on the Bayou' etc. (I just remembered that American Pie refers to levees - stop banks - that can be found in the Delta region as well. "Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry." That's another line that Don McLean will have to explain for us!)
Sorry I was never much of a fan of Alice Cooper, but I thought the Rolling Stones had some good songs.
== Que ==
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