# I have an issue with Creedence Clearwater Revival **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769 "2007-04-26T19:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/1 "2007-04-26T19:16:44Z")
CCR’s _Proud Mary_ has always bothered me. It’s a song about this guy that got fed up with the Man, and went and did a bunch of odd jobs until he was able to score a gig on a Mark Twain-style riverboat. It’s the last verse that has always disturbed me: _If you come down to the river, Bet you gonna find some people who live. You don’t have to worry 'cause you have no money, People on the river are happy to give._ Excuse me? That’s pretty presumptuous, man. Did they even bother to check with the people on the river? Do you think the river people have been putting up with the occasional hippy on the doorstep for nearly forty years, asking if they’d hand over some spare change and clothing because John Fogerty said they’d be cool with it? CCR said that people on the river are happy to give. But what if that isn’t true? Does this bother anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/2 "2007-04-26T19:20:20Z")
I know I got burned by it more than once. I just live in a regular house now. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/3 "2007-04-26T19:22:13Z")
It didn’t bother Tina Turner. But then, she’s nice and easy. At least in the beginning. Later on she can be, well…rough. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/4 "2007-04-26T19:27:23Z")
Actually, this did bother me a bit back in the '70s. I imagined that throngs of Fogerty-fueled freeloaders were going to head down to Louisiana hoping to mooch off the “people on the river.” A friend who lives in San Francisco told me that he was a bit peeved in the '60s with the song “San Francisco” that encouraged hippies to wear some flowers in their hair, and assured them that “summertime will be a love-in there” and “you’re going to meet some gentle people there.” Yeah, just what every town needs, more deadbeats with flowers in their hair. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/5 "2007-04-26T19:27:36Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] It didn’t bother Tina Turner. But then, she’s nice and easy. At least in the beginning. Later on she can be, well…rough. [/QUOTE] True…but she is _nice_…and rough. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/6 "2007-04-26T19:32:03Z")
If you live on the river just tell them you only give handouts when you can prove you’ve either 1- cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis or 2- chopped a lot of cane down in New Orleans I’ll need references and photographs. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/7 "2007-04-26T19:34:27Z")
Only semi-related, but has anyone seen _Creedence Clearwater **Revisited** _? Do they even come close without Fogerty? I have a pair of tickets and am hesitant to use them. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/8 "2007-04-26T19:39:23Z")
or 1. pumped a lot of 'pane down in New Orleans. VCNJ~ [QUOTE=Sampiro] If you live on the river just tell them you only give handouts when you can prove you’ve either 1- cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis or 2- chopped a lot of cane down in New Orleans I’ll need references and photographs. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/9 "2007-04-26T19:46:28Z")
_When your grandma gets old You can’t let her get cold Propane When your cousin, she’s hot But your fingers are not Propane_ _It’s so high, it’s so high, it’s so high Propane_ ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/10 "2007-04-26T19:46:50Z")
[QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] or 1. pumped a lot of 'pane down in New Orleans. VCNJ~ [/QUOTE] You know, that’s how I always heard it. Google seems to believe that he/she was pumping either tane or pain. Can you even pump 'pane, though? I thought it was a gas. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/11 "2007-04-26T20:04:52Z")
I’ve only read about CCRevisited. I have to tell you that I’ve never read anything _good_ about them. You have the bassist and the drummer and some other guys. Try to imagine what a band sounds like, who didn’t write any of the material they’re playing, didn’t play many of the parts on the records, and never sang on them, but are performing them anyway, billing themselves as something like the original. I’ve got nothing against Cosmo and Stu, but jeezus. Creedence Clearwater this ain’t. They’re the equivalent of an edition of ELO without Jeff Lynne, which is only rumored to exist. Nobody will actually admit to having seen or heard them, or having bought any of their records. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/12 "2007-04-26T20:12:03Z")
Thanks, **fishbicycle**. The tickets I have are at a venue where you can bring your own picnic and alcohol and relax on the lawn. I guess I’ll just bring more booze and not expect too much from the band. That and swat at the cicadas. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/13 "2007-04-26T20:13:41Z")
[QUOTE=Mooch] Only semi-related, but has anyone seen _Creedence Clearwater **Revisited** _? Do they even come close without Fogerty? [/QUOTE] I have their [Recollection](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2768376&title=Recollection+(Hip-O)&artist=Creedence+Clearwater+Revisited) CD, the second disc of which was recorded live. They sound like a CCR tribute band, which isn’t really a bad thing. I just wish “Suzie Q” and “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” didn’t drone on for so long… ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/14 "2007-04-26T20:16:09Z")
I thought it was 'tane, referring to gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/15 "2007-04-26T20:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] I thought it was 'tane, referring to gasoline. [/QUOTE] From the [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Mary) article… > [@](#): > > The author, Fogerty, finally laid the confusion to rest, saying, “Sometimes I write words to songs because they sound cool to sing. Sometimes the listener doesn’t understand what I’m singing because I’m dedicated to singing the vowel, having fun with the word sounds coming out of my mouth. ‘Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis, pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans,’ is a good example. I think Tina Turner sang ‘`tane’ instead of ‘pain,’ as in a contracted form of ‘octane’. But I knew what she meant.” ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/16 "2007-04-26T21:12:47Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] You know, that’s how I always heard it. Google seems to believe that he/she was pumping either tane or pain. Can you even pump 'pane, though? I thought it was a gas. [/QUOTE] I always heard it 'tane. As in Octane. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/17 "2007-04-26T21:19:07Z")
What a missed opportunity. It would have been so much more evocative to say “chopped a lot of cane…” Would have evoked images of Leadbelly at Angola, of searing southern Louisiana heat and humidity in the high summer. Would have been a lot more “classically Southern.” Ah Fogerty, as much as you wanted to be a Southerner, you were really a poseur all along. …which is not to say I don’t love your songs. I do. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/18 "2007-04-26T21:20:17Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] From the [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Mary) article… [/QUOTE] How do you pump pain? I think he was nippin’ at the giggle juice when he wrote it. He’s just pissed off because Tina had a better hit with 'tane. Cuz it actually makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![luvtinayothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@luvtinayothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvtinayothers)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/19 "2007-04-26T21:24:50Z")
Me too! http://i.rollingstone.com/assets/rs/27/576/images/22507\_lg.jpg ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769/20 "2007-04-26T21:26:55Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] You know, that’s how I always heard it. Google seems to believe that he/she was pumping either tane or pain. Can you even pump 'pane, though? I thought it was a gas. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=saoirse] I thought it was 'tane, referring to gasoline. [/quote] [QUOTE=Kalhoun] I always heard it 'tane. As in Octane. [/quote] Well said. My presence isn’t even required here. ::slinks away quietly [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-issue-with-creedence-clearwater-revival/401769.md?page=2)