| Bad Moon Rising | |
| Cover: | Bad Moon Rising label.jpeg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| Album: | Green River |
| B-Side: | Lodi |
| Recorded: | March 1969 |
| Studio: | Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California |
| Genre: | |
| Label: | Fantasy |
| Producer: | John Fogerty |
| Prev Title: | Proud Mary |
| Prev Year: | 1969 |
| Next Title: | Green River |
| Next Year: | 1969 |
"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 on April 16, 1969 four months before the album. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 28 June 1969 and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September of that year (see 1969 in music). It was CCR's second gold single.[3]
The song has been recorded by at least 20 different artists, in styles ranging from folk to reggae to psychedelic rock.
In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 364 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.
It is one of five songs by the band that peaked at the No. 2 spot on the U.S. Billboard chart and did not get to No. 1. It was blocked by "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" by Henry Mancini.
On the 2013 John Fogerty album, Wrote a Song for Everyone, the song is included featuring the Zac Brown Band.[4]
"Bad Moon Rising" uses weather imagery to make the point that something bad is lurking "out there."
Fogerty reportedly wrote the song after watching the 1941 film The Devil and Daniel Webster. It was inspired by a scene in the film in which a hurricane destroys the crops of several farms, but spares those of Jabez Stone (James Craig), the character in the film who makes a deal with the devil in exchange for wealth. Fogerty claims the song is about "the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us".[5] He also said that when the band was learning the song he recognized the contrast between the apocalyptic words and the happy melody.[6] He said "It wasn't until the band was learning the song that I realized the dichotomy. Here you've got this song with all these hurricanes and blowing and raging ruin and all that, but it's 'I see a bad moon rising.' It's a happy-sounding tune, right? It didn't bother me at the time."[6]
In 1969, the American music and entertainment magazine Billboard described the single as being "loaded with rhythm and drive" and predicted it "[couldn't] miss goingright to the top."[7] Cash Box, another contemporary music trade magazine, described it as a "blazing bayou-rock outing" that is "louder and bolder" than the group's previous single "Proud Mary."[8] Cash Box ranked it as the No. 51 single of 1969.[9]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Cliff M. Junior rated "Bad Moon Rising" as Creedence Clearwater Revival's 5th greatest song, saying that "in a little more than two minutes, [Fogerty] unloads his mind and prompts you to think about what's troubling you in your life."[10]
The song has been referenced numerous times by the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, including a use in an advertisement for and an aptly-named trick card in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. The song also appears in a 2023 TV commercial for Toyota.
"Bad Moon Rising" plays as David nears the moment of changing into the werewolf, in the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London.
| Peak position | |||
| scope=row | Australia (Go-Set) | 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | New Zealand (Listener) | 1 | |
| scope=row | South Africa (Springbok Radio)[11] | 1 | |
| scope=row | US Cash Box Hot 100[12] | 2 | |
| scope=row | US Record World | 1 |
| Peak position | |
| Canada Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[13] | 13 |
|---|---|
| US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[14] | 22 |
| Peak position | ||
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[15] | 11 |
|---|
| Rank | ||
| Australia[16] | 31 | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada[17] | 53 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[18] | 24 | |
| US Cash Box[19] | 51 |