"Proud Mary" is a song by rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival included on their 1969 album Bayou Country. It was written by the band's singer and lead guitarist, John Fogerty and is generally considered one of the band's signature songs.
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Stylistically, the song merges elements of several genres, including rock and roll, blues, gospel, and soul. Nevertheless, it contains many of Creedence Clearwater Revival's most characteristic elements, including a repeated guitar riff, "down-home" lyrics, and a guitar solo Fogerty said was influenced by Steve Cropper of Booker T and the MGs.
The second lyric of the second verse has generated considerable confusion, and can be considered a type of mondegreen. Listeners have variously interpreted it as "pumped a lot of pain" and "pumped a lot of 'pane", referring to propane, which is commonly used as a fuel. The controversy was further fueled by Ike & Tina's cover, in which Tina sings "pumped a lot of 'tane", referring to octane, another common chemical used in gasoline. The author, Fogerty, finally laid the confusion to rest, saying, "Sometimes I write words to songs because they sound cool to sing. Sometimes the listener doesn't understand what I'm singing because I'm dedicated to singing the vowel, having fun with the word sounds coming out of my mouth. `Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis, pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans,' is a good example. I think Tina Turner sang `tane' instead of `pain,' as in a contracted form of octane. But I knew what she meant."
Probably the most famous cover version was that recorded by Ike and Tina Turner, reaching #4 in 1971. Elvis Presley also often performed the song in his shows in Las Vegas and on tour. Versions can be found on the LPs Elvis On Stage (1970) and Elvis As Recorded At Madison Square Garden (1972) Actor Leonard Nimoy also infamously covered Proud Mary for Dot Records.
References
- Hoffman, Ken (1997). "Musicians' mumblings deciphered on lyrical Web page". Retrieved Nov. 5, 2005.