Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"

March 13, 1971 (2 weeks)

There are two commonplace theories as to the meaning of "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?". The first is that it tracks the early seventies fall out of disillusioned hippies and radicals following the tragedies at the Altamont Festival at the end of 1969 and the shootings at Kent State the following year. While this smacks of an after-the-fact analysis (and isn't it a good thing I've never stooped to such a level), it should be said that Beach Boy Mike Love was thinking along similar lines at roughly the same time with his divisive number "Student Demonstration Time", from their groundbreaking 1971 album Surf's Up. While seemingly siding with protesters, Love's song concludes with a warning of "you best stay outta sight" which seemed to reflect the hippie-to-yuppie changeover that would occur.

To the extent that it even has anything in common with "Student Demonstration Time", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" is much more ambiguous. Is the rain supposed to represent the diminished commitment of these young anti-war, pro-civil rights individuals? I guess it could be but then wouldn't the sun symbolize their renewed desire to keep at it? It can rain on a sunny day so there's a mix of good and bad? Right?

Though very much of their time, I'm not convinced that Creedence Clearwater Revival were ever all that political. I know "Bad Moon Rising" is meant to have a deeper meaning and all that but I think that's mainly down to reverse engineering a memorable hit to fit in with such a polarized time. I imagine John Fogerty would have written it independent of the political situation in the United States. And the same goes for "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?".

The other theory is one that Fogerty has pushed for himself — and, for all I know, he may have been the first person to even broach it. Instead of it being about Vietnam, it was about a coming disaster that was much closer to home. CCR had been living on borrowed time for a while by the start of 1971. Fogerty's older brother and bandmate Tom was unhappy with his role in the group and he decided to leave following completion of their sixth album Pendulum. Lines like "there's a calm before the storm" and "been that way for all my time" would seem to confirm this. I'm happy to take his word for it but, again, there's an uncertainty. Shouldn't the sun hint at the possibility of a bright future for the band in spite of their difficulties? Or is it simply a stark contrast between the rain being his crumbling group and the sun being his future without them?

Something else seems to be going on in "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" that suggests the end is near. Fogerty sounds like he's ready to give up. There are precisely two verses, the chorus repeats and that's about it. No bridge and not much of a narrative to go by. (The competing theories mentioned above could've both done with greater lyrical explanation) Fogerty also sounds exhausted and who the hell could've blamed him given his workrate over the previous three years. While previous RPM number ones "Up Around the Bend" and "Lookin' Out My Backdoor" have issue of their own, both feel toiled over and completed. Now, a torpor has begun — and it would only get worse from here. Luckily, the coming sunshine in this thunderstorm of CCR's decline is the fact that we're just about done with them.

Score: 4