John Fogerty returns with his first antiwar song since Vietnam
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By Jon Bream
Star Tribune
Published September 19, 2004
John Fogerty didn't intend to write his first anti-war song since his Vietnam-era hits "Who'll Stop the Rain?" and "Fortunate Son." When he headed to his songwriting room one day last September, he planned to create a swamp-rock song.
"Something whispered the first line of 'Déjà Vu' in my ear," the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer recalled recently. "I could hear the acoustic [guitar]; I could hear the singing. I tried to brush it away and work on what I was there to do. But it was pretty insistent. It was much louder than most of my ideas. A lot of times I'm being clever; I'm thinking up something. Whereas this was like from the spirit world. It was totally a gift."
He grabbed an acoustic guitar, and "Déjà Vu (All Over Again)" just "wrote itself," he said. "It's never happened before that I can remember this clearly. Usually in my songwriting process, I'm fiddling with a guitar and I come up with a signature riff like the intro of 'Green River' or 'Proud Mary' and then the song will follow."
"Déjà Vu (All Over Again)" has become his new single and the title track of Fogerty's first album in seven years, which arrives in stores Tuesday.
Despite being a self-described liberal who usually votes for Democrats, the 59-year-old Californian doesn't view his single as political.
"It's definitely not about bashing President Bush," he said from his Los Angeles home. "The song is about the sadness and utter frustration about what happens in war. It doesn't matter which agenda you follow politically; when your child is lost in a war, we all feel the same about it."
Musically, Fogerty's album is all over the spectrum, from punk (the Ramones-like "She's Got Baggage") and new-wave funk (the Talking Heads-like "Radar") to front-porch folk ("Rhubarb Pie"), acoustic gospel ("I Will Walk With You"), swamp rock ("Wicked Old Witch") and classic rock ("Nobody's Here Anymore" with Mark Knopfler on guitar).
"I'm not a one-note Johnny kind of a guy, and I feel that most people probably aren't, either," said the veteran, probably best known for the solo hit "Centerfield" as well as his 1960s and '70s classics with Creedence Clearwater Revival.
A notorious studio perfectionist who takes a long time between albums, Fogerty said the detours this time were a couple of household moves and, most significantly, the birth of his fourth child in 2001. He promises that his next album will arrive sooner because he's building a home studio.
Playing with the Boss
Next on his schedule is the Vote for Change Tour with Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M. and Bright Eyes, which will bring Fogerty to St. Paul on Oct. 5. He's doing the five-concert tour because Springsteen invited him and he wants "to get people stirred up, get them involved, involved enough to argue the points on both sides."
Some fans and politicians have been critical of big-name stars singing in support of political candidates. There are five different Vote for Change tours, featuring the Dave Matthews Band, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam and others, visiting several hotly contested states in early October. They'll raise funds for America Coming Together, a get-out-the-vote group allied with the liberal political-action committee MoveOn.
Fogerty says he's cynical about celebrity endorsements. "Telling me who I should vote for is really kind of a turn-off," he said. "That's not my agenda."
He said that he's a rock 'n' roll musician, not a politician or philosopher, and that he will lobby during tour rehearsals for no speeches during the concerts. "My vote probably won't be counted there," he said. "I think the very fact that we're all doing this speaks volumes. If you don't stir it up too much, I think both sides will have empathy."
Is he concerned about a negative impact on his career? "I'm too old to worry about that stuff," he said.
Although Fogerty toured this summer with his own band -- including a Twin Cities date in July -- he will be backed by Springsteen and the E Street Band on the Vote for Change shows. There will be a couple days of rehearsal, but the ex-Creedence star isn't concerned about his new backup musicians.
"If they've ever played 'Blue Suede Shoes,' they can play one of my songs," he said with a chuckle.
He expects to do some duets with Springsteen because "that's what fans would like to see. Politics aside, why the people will come is about the music."
Fogerty prefers to let his songs speak for him. He sang "Deja Vu (All Over Again)" and his Creedence hit "Fortunate Son" at a fundraiser for Democratic candidate John Kerry in July in New York City.
"Fortunate Son" is a bitter attack on the privileged class to whom patriotism comes easily until they're called to sacrifice. During concerts this year, Fogerty, who served in the Army Reserves from 1965 to '68, has changed one line to "I ain't no president's son," a pointed reference to President Bush.
What is it like for him in 2004 to sing "Who'll Stop the Rain," which became a favorite of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam?
"It's like déjà vu all over again," he said.
Jon Bream is at 612-673-1719 or popmusic@startribune.com |
