Here is one take on it:
The Strange and Unusual Story Behind CCR’s Bad Moon Rising
Music | July 6, 2018
CIRCA 1970: Photo of Creedence Clearwater Revival (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), as you probably know is an American band who first played together as a group in 1959. They remained front and center in pop-culture music of the groovy era. CCR was epically popular throughout the late 60’s and early '70s but their music lives on. Members included John Fogerty, his brother, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford.
John Fogerty was the “front” man and primary songwriter of CCR.
CCR’s style of music consisted of Southern rock with a touch of blues. Their sound was unmistakable. Fogerty, who wrote most of the group’s songs, was the lyricist of “Bad Moon Rising,” one of their most famous songs.
Bad Moon Rising” is a fun song with a dark meaning!
CCR’s famous “Bad Moon Rising” was a top rock song during the days of Woodstock.
“Bad Moon Rising” is a song with a lighthearted and catchy tone that is easy to sing along with. If you listen carefully to the lyrics, however, there is nothing lighthearted about them. Often we know the words and sing along without giving any thought to the message the song is sending.
John Fogerty reportedly got his inspiration for the song from a dark movie called, “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” In the movie, a hurricane wiped out just about an entire town. The song contains the lyrics,
“I feel the hurricane blowin’, I hope you’re quite prepared to die.”
The lyrics tell a gloomy story about the impending doom of an apocalypse, which is in stark contrast to the happy sounding song we have come to love.
“Bad Moon Rising” actually became the theme song of young demonstrators in the Berkeley, California, People’s Park riots in 1969.
On a lighter note, often the lyrics,
“There’s a bad moon on the rise,” has been misheard and misunderstood to be,
“There’s a bathroom on the right.” Fogerty even sang these lyrics in fun on more than one occasion to the delight of his fans.
Fogerty willingly admitted that he was aware of the contradiction between the damning song lyrics and the happy sounding music.
“Bad Moon Rising” has been used in science fiction films including “An American Werewolf in London” and the Twilight Zone: The Movie.
