Bad Moon Rising

Review by J. Fogerty

This song is definitely not about astrology. The imagery came from a 1941 movie, The Devil and Daniel Webster, about a Senator who makes a deal with the Devil (played by Walter Huston). The idea of the film was that the Devil was protecting Daniel Webster because of the deal they had made. There's one great scene where there's a huge storm, and the neighbor's corn crop was completely knocked down. But next door, the Devil and Daniel Webster are standing side-by-side, looking out the barn door. You can see Daniel Webster's corn still standing tall in a straight row, six feet high. The contrast represented a very strong image to me. I took it in a Biblical sense, meaning hurricanes and lightening. "Don't go round tonight/It's bound to take your life/There's a bad moon on the rise." Scary, spooky stuff.