Some songs seem as if they were sent down to us music fans from on high. It’s as if some are just the Platonic ideal of music. And when it comes to swamp rock and a raspy, guttural singing voice that fits, there is seemingly nothing better than lead singer John Fogerty and his band Creedence Clearwater Revival.
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There was a time in the early 1970s when Creedence was perhaps the best rock band in the entire world. And one of the reasons for that is the group’s song lyrics. Here below, we wanted to examine three examples of that. A trio of song openings from Creedence that make our ears perk up. Indeed, these are three of the best opening lines from Creedence Clearwater Revival songs.
“Fortunate Son” from Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)
A song that is unequivocal about income and class disparity and the perils of wartime. On this classic rock track, John Fogerty decries the rich who get to avoid conflict and watch those with less go and fight the wars politicians sign the country up for. As the song opens with a sharp electric guitar, Fogerty comes in later singing with so much emotion it feels like a thick storm. Indeed, he belts,
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
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” from Pendulum (1971)
This song is about endings. Some believe the track is about the downfall of the idealistic Flower Power hippy movement of the 1960s. But Fogerty has talked about how the song is actually about the impending end of Creedence itself, which broke up in 1972, just a year or so after this track was released on the 1971 LP Pendulum. And on the song, Fogerty sets it all up with the opening lyrics,
Someone told me long ago
There’s a calm before the storm
I know, it’s been coming for some time
When it’s over, so they say
It’ll rain a sunny day
“Born on the Bayou” from Bayou Country (1969)
While Fogerty was born in Berkeley, California, it sure does seem his soul was born in the swamps of Louisiana. And that is what this track is about. This song talks about keeping your spirit alive, keeping your personal flame lit. Whether you’re from some well-known, traditional place or if you’re born on the Bayou. Indeed, to open the tune, the passionate Fogerty sings about what his father told him, saying,
Now, when I was just a little boy
Standin’ to my daddy’s knee
My papa said, “Son, don’t let the man get you
And do what he done to me”
Photo by Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images
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