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Creedence Clearwater Revival have plenty of terrific singles, and you could easily make a great list with just their radio staples. It’s ridiculous how prolific the band were – these ten songs are drawn from the five (!) studio albums that CCR released in 19. My theory is that they’re one of the most widely loved bands ever – tuneful and rocking, but without a hint of pretense. There’s always something moving in a Creedence song – rolling on the river, running through the jungle, or a bad moon rising. Putting their songs in a list, it’s noticeable how visceral they are. The band sounded like they came from the southern states, but were actually Californian.Ĭreedence Clearwater Revival are notable for their unlucky streak of reaching #2 on the US single charts on five different occasions without ever making the top spot. Frontman John Fogerty represents blue-collar America, addressing working-class issues like the Vietnam War, while there’s a heartland warmth to their swampy rock. Like “Born In The USA,” “Fortunate Son” has been used to sell everything from pick-up trucks to Wrangler jeans, cutting off the lyrics just before they get to “Ooh, they point the cannon at you.Despite releasing their first album in 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival weren’t hippies. “It ain’t me, it ain’t me/I ain’t no senator’s son,” Fogerty sings, referencing President Eisenhower’s grandson, who, after becoming President Nixon’s son-in-law, was given a deferment from the military. As a former veteran, Fogerty railed against the exploitative nature of the draft system rather than the military. In addition to being the official Vietnam War theme song, “Fortunate Son” always spoke “more to the unfairness of class than war itself”, John Fogerty said. Strong stuff for a song that was only supposed to (and, handily, did) turn The Monkees into instant teen idols.Ģ: Creedence Clearwater Revival: ‘Fortunate Son’ ( Willy And The Poor Boys, 1969)Ĭonflating government criticism with anti-veteran sentiment is one of America’s favorite pastimes, and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s iconic Vietnam-era song, “Fortunate Son,” has been simultaneously hailed as a patriotic working-class anthem and flagged as an anti-military diatribe. The song doesn’t take a pro- or anti-war stance, but the central line, “I don’t know if I’m ever coming home,” underlines the harsh reality of soldiers shipping off to war. And none of The Monkees’ impressionable fans figured out that his girlfriend was coming to Clarksville to stay the night (it was the last train, after all). Though it seems obvious now, hardly anyone at the time worked out that it was about a soldier shipping out to Vietnam. This may have been one of the sneakiest political songs of the 60s. 3: The Monkees: ‘Last Train To Clarksville’ ( The Monkees, 1966) Yet over the years, it’s been misconstrued as a feminist empowerment song, when the band meant nothing of the sort. You can’t even write “American Woman” off as a song about one specific woman, since the obvious protest line, “I don’t need your war machines, I don’t need no ghetto scenes,” comes up toward the end. You’d think there’d be no room for misunderstanding this one, since Burton Cummings and The Guess Who are clearly biting the hand that had just started to feed them.
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More of that was to come on “1999.”ħ: The Guess Who: ‘American Woman’ ( American Woman, 1970) But no: it does seem he meant it and was genuinely concerned that the world was about to blow up. On this boppy new-wave number, however, it sure sounds like Prince is making fun of peoples’ worries about a Russian invasion, given the upbeat sound of the track. Trouble is, the song is far more effective if you believe the drug angle.Ĩ: Prince: ‘Ronnie, Talk To Russia’ ( Controversy, 1981)Īt this stage in his career, Prince didn’t write too many political songs – indeed, in a contemporary review of Controversy, Sweet Potato magazine observed that you were more likely to encounter “the penis” as “a political tool in his worldview” – let alone misunderstood political songs. Yet most of The Temptations, and even writer/producer Norman Whitfield, have denied the song has any drug connection, claiming that it’s really about an elevated state of mind. By all appearances, “Cloud Nine”is a powerful song about a ghetto dweller who turns to hard drugs because his life offers no better possibilities, and his claim that he’s “doing fine on cloud nine” gets more ominous as the song goes on. Here’s one of those cases where you have to decide whether you really believe the group – and even the songwriter. 9: The Temptations: ‘Cloud Nine’ ( Cloud Nine, 1969)