BATHROOM ON THE RIGHT

Creedence Clearwater Revival produced “Bad Moon Rising” in April 1969. John Fogerty, who wrote the song, considered it to be a happy tune. Students in Berkeley used it as a theme song during their anti-war demonstrations. Here are the actual lyrics:

Bad Moon Rising

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 around 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 overflowing

I hear the voice of rage and ruin

 

Don’t go around 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 quite prepared to die

Looks like we’re in for nasty weather

One eye is taken for an eye

 

Don’t go around tonight

It’s bound to take your life

There’s a bad moon on the rise

There’s a bad moon on the rise

The students in Berkeley thought this was an anti-war song. If so, that would have been news to John Fogerty. He actually based it on a movie called “The Devil And Daniel Webster.” That was about a farmer who made a pact with Satan for economic success and then asked Daniel Webster, who was a lawyer, to help him break the contract. Since the plot took place in 1840 odds are it had little to do with the Vietnam War.

Others believe it was a warning regarding abundant drug use by celebrities. As for me, I just liked the music. So did a lot of soccer fans in Brazil. Although I knew the actual lyrics, to me it sounded like they were really singing: “There’s A Bathroom on the Right.” In some ways, those lyrics would be equally accurate since people caught in this type of situation often are desperate in need of a bathroom.

Regardless of why Fogerty wrote this, the words sure seem to apply today. There is a Bad Moon on the Rise. I do not know how many people will die from COVID 19, but I fear the failed cure will be far more devastating than the disease itself. I hear hurricanes of economic destruction blowing. I know the end is coming soon, because everyone is going to run out of money. I fear economic rivers overflowing and doing more damage than most people can imagine. I hear the voice of rage and ruin, growing louder every day. The incredible damage done by irresponsible and power hungry politicians bowing down to non-existent science will be increasingly difficult to ignore.

I do think there is a bad moon on the rise. And yes, I do think a lot of people will be in desperate search of a bathroom to flush this all away. Let’s hope they are smart enough to realize there really is “A Bathroom on the Right.” Heaven help us if they continue to take guidance from those who directed us into this mess.

TDM