So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
I see the bad moon a-risin'
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today
Don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes a-blowin'
I know the end is comin' soon
I fear rivers over flowin'
I hear the voice of rage and ruin
Don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise, alright
Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye
Well don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
Don't come around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today
Don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
I hear hurricanes a-blowin'
I know the end is comin' soon
I fear rivers over flowin'
I hear the voice of rage and ruin
Don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise, alright
Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye
Well don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
Don't come around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
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This is about John Fogerty's personal battle with werewolfism. He fears a full or "bad" moon rising because he doesnt want to hurt people as a werewolf
The clinical term, my good man, is Lycanthropy. And I believe you are correct in your interpretation. . .lol.
@Uncle Jemimah that is fucking hilarious.
its true that this songs 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 John Fogerty got the idea for the line "I feel the hurricane blowin', I hope you're quite prepared to die. - The lyrics also describing events that indicate a coming apocalypse
I thought this song was about racism and the violence against blacks in the South.
"Don't go around tonight Well it's bound to take your life There's a bad moon on the rise." They would warn blacks not to leave their homes at night in order to avoid gangs of whites. These confrontations would almost certainly lead to death or injury, and night was the most dangerous time for blacks.
"I hear the voice of rage and ruin" Hearing the white gangs express rage at rallies, or even as they encountered blacks on the street. The ruin could refer to bombings and arson on black establishments.
"One eye is taken for an eye" A white gang killed a black person, so a black gang would kill a white person, and it would go back and forth...
Just how I saw it.
I've read that this song was reaction to Richard Nixon's election in 1968. Clearly, he did not expect great things of Nixon.
He's a musician. The vast majority of musicians are poorly educated; come from shit families; party hard; were not raised with God or any higher power (so they think they are the center of their universe and everyone else's); and due to their busy schedules probably do not even follow the news. If a musician is liberal it's an oddity. Most are self-centered, loose, creative types who are led by the nose by those who impress them....the idiotic superficial Hollywood types.
isn't liberal
ILUVU I'm a brazilian musician and I dont agree with you opinion about musicians...<br /> For example: I've never studied english and never been in a country wich speaks englins.. By the way Do speak portuguese?
Do ya speak portuiguese (I meant)
This is directly from Bad Moon Rising by Hank Bordowitz. Page 59. It is a quote from John Fogerty
"Bad Moon Rising is obviously an homage to the early Sun recordings." "The imagery ca,e frp, a 1941 movie, The Devil and Daniel Webster, about a senator that makes a deal with the Devil.... There's one great scene where there's a huge storm, and the neighbor's corn crop was completely knocked down. But next door, the Devil and Daniel Webster are standing side by side, looking out hte barn door. You can see Daniel Webster's corn still standing tall in a straight row six feet high. The contrast represented a very strong image to me. I took it in a biblical sense, meaning hurricanes and lightening."
this song definitely sounds like it could be describing the vietnam war. i believe i have seen it in a couple music lists from that era.
Re: "When I heard this song on the radio when I was a kid, I always thought he was saying a bathroom on the right". You are not the first to think you hear JCFogerty sing "a bathroom on the right". Actually JCFogerty sometimes sing "a bathroom on the right" when he preform the song live.
@DjUve This is a genius interpretation, thanks .... even if a loooooong time ago!
i've heard this song is about vietnam.
a bad moon rising is a full moon. in vietnam a full moon is light for the NVA/vc to see you. and then kill you
"Don't go around tonight Well it's bound to take your life"
Your all wrong, Badd Moon Rising is a song about how righteous and kick-ass Creedence Clearwater is. The line "Bad Moon on The Rise", when translated in Gaelic, means "John Fogerty is My Hero".
Definitely a political antic towards Vietnam.
Agree completely.