10 October 1969
Don’t go out tonight! Don’t make unnecessary journeys! Ireland in 1969 didn’t have weather apps or storm-battered TV reporters, so it fell to mid-table rock bands like Creedence to warn the people of impending extreme weather events. ‘Bad Moon Rising’ predicts earthquakes, lightning and hurricanes, all of which John Fogerty wraps up in the final verse as “nasty weather”; they’re more used to proper extreme weather in America, rather than the slanty drizzle and dirty slush which—Teresa Mannion and named storms aside—constitute the typical Irish winter.
Ireland’s weather may be mild, but so is Creedence’s rural-electrification folk-rock. Example: last time I zapped onto TG4, the otherwise cool Irish-language TV channel which strangely devotes its evening schedules to guarding the flame of country & Irish music, some country & Irish band was rolling, rolling, rolling politely through ‘Proud Mary’ in a manner that would reassure whatever local priest chaired the committee letting out the parish hall. I wouldn’t expect Three-Chord Mossie And His Allstars to wig out on the angry ‘Fortunate Son’, which leaves aside the weather metaphors and goes straight for the head-shot, but the jaunty boogie-lite of ‘Bad Moon Rising’ would also be well within their comfort zone. Don’t take risks on treacherous roads, Mossie!
