♫ Bad Moon Rising ♫

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John Fogerty explained that the lyrics were inspired by a movie called The Devil And Daniel Webster, in which a hurricane wipes out most of a town. This is where he got the idea for the words “I feel the hurricane blowin’, I hope you’re quite prepared to die.” Overall, he said the song is about the “apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us.”  That is a theme that, I think, is just about as relevant today as it was in 1969 when this song was released by Credence Clearwater Revival, aka CCR.

The song reached its US chart peak of #2 (one of five CCR songs to place that this position – they never got to #1) on July 28, 1969, eight days after the Apollo 11 moon landing. The song has nothing to do with space travel, but the title was somewhat apropos, especially after the mission succeeded.

Now, you all know that I am the world’s worst at getting song lyrics all wrong, so I took some pleasure in reading that the line, “There’s a bad moon on the rise” has often been mistaken for “There’s a bathroom on the right”!

And now, I give you Credence Clearwater Revival …

Bad Moon Rising
Creedence Clearwater Revival

I see a bad moon a-rising
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin’
I see bad times today

Don’t go ’round tonight
It’s bound to take your life
There’s a bad moon on the rise

I hear hurricanes a-blowing
I know the end is coming soon
I fear rivers over flowing
I hear the voice of rage and ruin

Don’t go ’round tonight
It’s bound to take your life
There’s a bad moon on the rise

I hope you got your things together
I hope you are quit prepared to die
Look’s like we’re in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye

Oh don’t go ’round tonight
It’s bound to take your life
There’s a bad moon on the rise
There’s a bad moon on the rise

Songwriters: John C. Fogerty
Bad Moon Rising lyrics © The Bicycle Music Company

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17 thoughts on “♫ Bad Moon Rising ♫”

  1. Jill, great tune. John Fogerty is a frequent guest on the misunderstood lyric website Kissthisguy.com after the Jimi Hendrix misunderstood line from “Purple Haze.” I believe it is the profound lyrics and singing style that places him there. CCR is truly one of the great American bands. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    • Not mine, I swear! 🤣 Took them straight from my usual source for lyrics, and it said ‘voice of rage and ruin’. Just in case, I went and double-checked it on two other sources, SongFacts and AtoZ Lyrics, and both of them say “rage & ruin” also. Welcome to my world of misheard lyrics. 😉

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      • Not to burst your bubble, but most every lyric website copies other lyric websites, it is amazing how botched lyrics are botched on every website. Not that I am perfect, ot that a singer did not change the words or screwed them up, but things do happen. I tried a song with about 30 websites one time, and every site had exactly the same mistakes. Which site is the main site, I do not know, but I had the album jacket, with lyrics, and nobody followed the jacket. It almost makes you wonder…

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  3. So much that was good came out of the sixties, music and attitude, the belief in change and the idea that people are equal.At least the music’s still there as the rest are being suppressed again by the Government, The President and the racism that’s come out of hiding again. Good Music
    Cwtch

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    • True. A great deal of timeless music came from the 60s, much of it driven by the angst of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. I doubt we could have imagined what life would be like 50-60 years later. If we had, many of us would have just walked into the ocean, I think!
      Cwtch

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Thank you for sharing!.. it was also a song used during Vietnam protests from time to time… 🙂

    “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Plato

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