← Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
The Sweet Story Behind Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door"
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Parlez tout francais hablas espanol par l'? Italiano? If you've used Babbel, you would Babbel's conversation based techniques teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world. With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers, Babbel is like having a private tutor in your pocket. Start speaking with Babbel today. Get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription right now at babbel.com wandery spelled b a b b e l.com wandery rules and restrictions may apply welcome to the behind the Song podcast, taking you deeper into classic rock's most timeless tunes. Here's your host, Janda.
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Looking Out My Back Door Ever listen to the lyrics of Looking Out My Back Door by Creedence Clearwater Rev and wondered what the heck John Fogerty was singing about? It's such a trippy song lyrically that it's easy to think it was inspired by certain illicit substances. But as Fogarty has said many times, that is not the case. It's actually much more wholesome and innocent than that. A song he wrote for his young son, inspired in part by Dr. Seuss. Let's get into it in this episode of the behind the Song podcast. If you like it, give it a thumbs up and hit. Subscribe and let us know in the comments. Cosmos Factory was the fifth studio album by CCR released in July of 1970. To say that the band had been on a frenzied schedule would be accurate because it was the first of two albums released that year, and it followed three albums the band released in 1969. While it was common back then to release more than one album in the same year, CCR were sort of on overdrive with their release schedule, putting out album after album. They would release one more album in the year 1970, pendulum, and then release their final, final work as a band, 1972's Mardi Gras. Cosmos Factory is widely recognized as their zenith point creatively and for good reason. It spent nine weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard 200. Out of 11 tracks, six were released as singles, complete with double A sides, and all six of those singles charted in the top five on the Billboard Hot 100. Just a behemoth of an album. In the midst of all this whirlwind of recording, releasing albums, promoting them, touring, and all that goes along with it, it's important to remember that Creedence Clearwater Revival were really a meat and potatoes workhorse band, a 180 degree difference from most other rock bands at the time. They made a conscious effort to avoid drugs and alcohol, particularly while working in the studio and touring. Fogerty, the chief songwriter, also had a young family to look after. In fact, it was his son Josh, who was about 3 years old at the time, who really gave Fogarty the idea to write a fantastical song about an imaginary day, with parts of the song written purely for his son's enjoyment. The very colorful lyrics in this song, which, by the way, clocks in at just two and a half minutes long, go like this. Just got home from Illinois Locked the front door oh boy Got to sit down take a rest on the porch Imagination sets in Pretty soon I'm singing do do do Looking out my back door those do do dos such a huge part of the song were included because he said he thought that his son would think it was funny to hear his dad singing them on the radio. At the time, Fogarty had probably just returned home to Northern California from the road, and either way, Illinois rhymes perfectly with oh boy. He sets the stage here in the first verse by doing something very basic, framing everything he's about to see while just looking through his own back door. And that's important because it establishes a real home base for this wild trip that he's about to take us on. And the song goes on. There's a giant doing cartwheels A statue wearing high heels look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn Dinosaur Victrola Listening to Buck Owens do do do Looking out my back door now sure, with giants doing cartwheels and statues wearing high heels. Rumors flew that this song was based on some kind of drug trip, and it's not hard to see why with these lyrics. In 1970, fresh off the Summer of Love, but this band from Northern California were very unlike their contemporaries from San Francisco, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead when it came to counterculture sensibilities. The album title kind of says it all about their approach to being in a rock band. Cosmo's Factory was named by drummer Doug Cosmo Clifford, who called their rehearsal space the Factory, because Fogarty made them rehearse there almost every day, working hard to perfect their sound. Working like a factory worker worked. Buck Owens, the architect of the Bakersfield country sound that Fogarty so admired, is name checked here. Playing on a dinosaur Victrola, that old, old sound. And the sound of this record has that Bakersfield swing to it, too. Fogerty even later covered a Buck Owens tune I don't care just as long as you love me for his 2009 album the Blue Ridge Rangers rides Again. Creedence Clearwater Revival sounds the way it does because the songs are rooted in early rock and roll, rockabilly, old country songs and blues songs, old and eternal. And because this song is really a children's song, A parade in a book by Dr. Seuss inspired. What comes next as this extraordinary song continues? Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band Won't you take a ride on the fly and spoon Doot doo doo Wondrous apparition provided by magician do do do Looking out my back door the Dr. Seuss book titled and to think that I saw it on Mulberry street is the one Fogarty had in mind for looking out my back door. The book follows the adventures of a boy named Marco, who is told by his father to keep your eyelids up and see what you can see. Marco only sees a horse pulling a wagon on Mulberry street, where they lived, and so he began to envision more interesting scenery. The horse turns into a zebra, then an elephant. The wagon turns into a chariot, then a cart carrying a full brass band. Marco adds a parade to his daydream with an airplane dropping confetti and on and on and on. But when Marco returns home, he's too embarrassed to tell his father what he had conjured up in his head, and instead just tells him that all he saw was a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street. By the way, that was the very first book published by Theodore Seuss Geisel under the name Dr. Seuss, and it went to print in 1937. And again, no, the flying spoons referenced in the lyrics had nothing to do with drug culture, just a funny image for a kid's song. Fogarty repeats the lyrics about tambourines and elephants and flying spoons, and then he sings, bother me tomorrow today I'll buy no sorrows do do do Looking out my back door in just those couple of lines, he gets across the whole point of the song. Just trying to have a little fun with his son, making an imaginary world to escape into for a couple of minutes. In fact, the song ends almost as quickly as it began, with Fogarty forwarding his troubles to Illinois like a piece of mail out there on the road far away from this wondrous little moment at home with these lyrics. Forward troubles Illinois lock the front door oh boy, look at all the happy creatures Dancing on the line Bother me tomorrow, today I'll buy no sorrows do do do Looking Out My Back Door Looking Out My Back Door was an instant hit, and it's a total classic. Fogarty sings it like sunshine beaming on a gravel and it was only kept off of the number one spot in the Billboard Hot 100 chart by Diana Ross version of Ain't no Mountain High Enough. It did go to number one in several other countries, but CCR actually never had a song to hit number one in the States. This was their fifth number two hit on the chart, more than any other group to have that many songs achieve the number two spot. The song and the Cosmos Factory album will never run out of Steam. By 1990 the album had gone four times platinum, and who could forget hearing Lookin Out My Back Door in the Big Lebowski when the dude is playing it in his car, following the car that was carrying his stolen rug. Cosmo's Factory is on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of all time, and it's one of the reasons that Creedence Clearwater Revival were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 1993. So what other songs seem to be about one thing but are really about another? Something to think about. Until next time. I'm Janda and this has been behind the song. If you like this episode, give it a like and subscribe to the channel. Special thanks as always to Christian Lane for the music you hear on these podcast episodes. You can find me on the air at 97.1fm the drive in Chicago and at wdrv.com on the way. Much more classic rock and roll Mr. Gecko, you're a huge inspiration to us all, but who was your muse?
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