55 Years Since Bad Moon Rising And Its Timeless Meaning

1969 saw many Classic Rock legends like The Who, Led Zepplin, and Rolling Stones dominating the music charts in the United States. It even saw Elvis Presley occupying the No. 1 chart one last time with Suspicious Minds. However, a group from California would also be a dark horse regarding chart dominance. That band was Creedence Clearwater Revival.

During the summer of 1969, Woodstock took place, the pandora box waiting to be opened onto our culture with the Sexual Revolution.

The band would release a hit song called, “Bad Moon Rising”. When asked about the significance of the song and how it even solidified the band’s dominance in the music industry. The song peaked at the No.2 spot in June of that year. Henry Mancini’s "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” was the No.1 song.

In a 1993 Rolling Stone magazine, John Fogarty, the frontman for the band, would recall that the song, “was about the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us. It wasn't until the band was learning the song that I realized the dichotomy. Here you got this song with all these hurricanes and blowing and raging ruin and all that, but it's [snaps fingers] "I see a bad moon rising." It's a happy-sounding tune, right? It didn't bother me at the time.”

There is some truth to the song. Today, we are living through some of the most challenging times of our lives. We have to be ready for what is to come.

One line from the song that gets me is, “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.” Fogarty is warning us that we must prepare for the inevitable. As Catholics, we must be sure to receive the sacraments as often as we can, do works of mercy, and live like it’s going to be our last day on earth. Even Christ would remind us that we will not know the day or hour (Matthew 24:36).

Live every day like is your last.