'Fix your mind on a crystal day...'
'I put a little music room in my house in late ’69, and I was up there with a guitar, fiddling around with a lick from [Marty Robbins’] “White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)”. Later, I was out on my motorcycle riding around Berkeley, probably going around a corner. It had this sense of urgency. So when I got home, I went up to that room and married the urgency of going somewhere to that riff. And I made a whole song out of, ‘We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re on our way.’ Y’know, the way all kids feel – just immortal. '
Two minutes forty four seconds. Labelled 'innocuous' by American music critic Dave Marsh but it's better than that. Living in the moment and heading into a better future. Less precise as a song than many Creedence numbers which often locate themselves very specifically. This one I guess is about the mythic highway and escape from the horrible, historical time Creedence found themselves in towards something better. Imagining yourself into a different time and place. With one of the best, sharpest, cleanest, riffs John Fogerty ever came up with. Sounds great coming out of a jukebox. It adds fuel to Springsteen's claim, made on his inauguration speech for their entry to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that they were among many other things a dance band.Reached Number 4 in the States, with Run Through the Jungle about which more later, on the flip side.
No comments:
Post a Comment