| "Bad Moon Rising" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Creedence Clearwater Revival | ||||
| from the album Green River | ||||
| B-side | "Lodi" | |||
| Released | April 1969 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||
| Recorded | March 1969, Wally Heider's Studio, San Francisco, California | |||
| Genre | Roots rock, swamp rock | |||
| Length | 2:21 | |||
| Label | Fantasy | |||
| Writer(s) | John Fogerty | |||
| Producer | John Fogerty | |||
| Creedence Clearwater Revival singles chronology | ||||
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"Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September 1969 (see 1969 in music). It was CCR's second gold single.[1]
The song has been recorded by at least 20 different artists, in styles ranging from folk to reggae to psychedelic rock.
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Fogerty reportedly wrote "Bad Moon Rising" after watching The Devil and Daniel Webster. Inspired by a scene in the film involving a hurricane, Fogerty claims the song is about "the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us."[2]
The refrain in the chorus, "there's a bad moon on the rise", is commonly misheard as "there's a bathroom on the right". Fogerty has parodied the mishearing in live performances of the song.[3]
The song has been used in a number of films, including An American Werewolf in London; My Fellow Americans; Twilight Zone: The Movie; Blade; Sweet Home Alabama; My Girl; Man of the House; Mr. Woodcock; The Big Chill & Shaun of the Dead.
It has also appeared in many television programs, including Supernatural, Cold Case, Northern Exposure, and Alvin and the Chipmunks, in which it is performed by the titular characters.
The song is available as a playable song for Guitar Hero 5 and the Rock Band series of video games as downloadable content.
A remixed version of the song can be heard in the video game Crackdown 2.
| Preceded by "In the Year 2525" by Zager & Evans |
UK number one single September 20, 1969-October 4, 1969 |
Succeeded by "Je t'aime... moi non plus" by Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg |