Commotion (song)


Commotion is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival from the album Green River, and was also the B-side of the single release of the album's title track. In 1980, Tombstone Shadow b/w Commotion was released as a single in the United States. While released as a B-side, Commotion reached #30 in the United States and #16 in Germany. It was written by John Fogerty and recorded at Wally Heider's Studios in San Francisco in June 1969. The 45rpm was the debut session of the band at Wally Heider's and the first collaboration with engineer Russ Gary. Commotion is a chaotic rockabilly song, which depicts the manic side of life in New York. 40 years later, John Fogerty put the lyrics about traffic in the city, freeways, hurrying and rushing to broader context: "I was writing about what was in the air, and that was what came out of me. I was just doing what came naturally." Fogerty also recalls borrowing the beat of the song from a train.

Live performance

The band played the song regularly until their last public show in May 1972. The concert at Oakland Coliseum on January 31, 1970, was released as a live album ten years later. A live recording of Commotion appears also on Live in Europe compilation. John Fogerty played “Commotion” for the first time during his solo career on the opening leg of the Long Road Home Tour at Palais des Congrès, Paris, France, on June 28, 2006. The song survived as a regular number in his set-list until summer 2007 after which the plays became rarer.

In TV series

Commotion appears in TV series Parenthood, episode Everything Is Not Okay.