John Fogerty has been behind many hits. But there is one song he wrote that reflected a really low point in his life. And it has become one of his most popular songs.
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"Have You Ever Seen The Rain" released with the Pendulum album in 1970. It was a song he wrote for his ex-band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Since then, it has gained over two billion streams on Spotify alone.
It turns out, funnily enough, that the song that alludes to sadness was written during a low point.
In an interview with L.A. Times' Mikael Wood, John Fogerty reflected on "Have You Ever Seen The Rain." There, he explained the time in his career that inspired it. Right after the Pendulum LP was released, Fogerty would leave the band, and it would dwindle away before two years.
"I loved my band — I thought it was the culmination of everything I'd been working for — and to watch it sort of disintegrating, I just felt powerless," he vulnerably shared. His emotions during this time heavily influenced the lyrics of the song he'd go to write.
"That's why I use the strange metaphor of rain coming down on a sunny day: We had finally found our sunny day, and yet everybody seemed to be more and more unhappy. I just felt completely befuddled by what was going on — I didn't know what to say or do that was gonna fix it."
John Fogerty Reflects On Low Point In His Career
His lowly feeling pushed him down an emotional death spiral, something hindsight has helped him see clearly.
"Up to that time, I'd thought the way to fix it was: Well, I'll just write more songs and we'll have more success — that'll take care of all our problems. That's how I felt — pathetically so — even as far as my relationship with Saul Zaentz and the horrible contract," he continued.
"I thought if I just showed that I was a great songwriter and could make these records that perhaps he would have some empathy and go, 'I should treat John better because I want to have more of these songs.' When I say that now, it sounds utterly foolish."
I'm sure everyone can relate to that feeling. So I suppose it's no wonder that so many relate to the beautiful song.
