Green River
by Creedence Clearwater Revival
- 72
- BPM
- E major
- Key
- 12B
- Camelot
- 71
- Danceability
- 4
- Acousticness
"Green River" was recorded and released as a single in July 1969, one month before the album of the same name. It peaked at number two for one week. Billboard ranked it the 31st song of 1969.
John Fogerty wrote it about a childhood vacation spot. In a 2012 interview he said the place was actually Putah Creek near Winters, California. He called it Green River in his head, after a soda pop syrup flavor he loved. The last verse brings in a character named Old Cody Junior, a reference to Buffalo Bill Cody, who had owned the cabin by the creek. He warns the singer that he will find the world smoldering but can always come back.
Fogerty called the song a tip of the hat to the Sun Records sound. With the loping acoustic guitar and a bass rocking on the one and the four, he thought of Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby", although this was much more rocking. The Recording Industry Association of America certified it gold on December 13, 1990.
Green River runs at 72 BPM, the tempo of soul, trip-hop and half-time hip-hop. In classical terms it sits in largo territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 3.33 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 833 ms. It is in E major, Camelot 12B, which shares its notes with C# minor and mixes cleanly with A major and B major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.