Lookin' out My Back Door

Infobox Single
Name = Lookin' out My Back Door


Artist = Creedence Clearwater Revival
from Album = Cosmo's Factory
B-side = "Long as I Can See the Light"
Released = July 1970
Format = 7" 45 RPM
Genre = Country rock
Length = 2:35
Label = Fantasy
Writer = John Fogerty
Producer = John Fogerty
Chart position = * #2 U.S. Pop Singles"Lookin' out My Back Door" is a song recorded by the American band Creedence Clearwater Revival and written by the band's lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, John Fogerty.

It was included on their 1970 album "Cosmo's Factory", the group's sixth album. The song's lyrics, filled with colorful, dream-like imagery, led some to believe that the song was about drugs. According to the drug theory, the "flying spoon" in the song was a cocaine spoon, and the crazy animal images were an acid trip. [ [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5071 "Lookin' out My Back Door" by Creedence Clearwater Revival Songfacts ] ] Fogerty, however, has stated in interviews that the song was actually written for his then three year old son, Josh and that he was writing from the viewpoint and imagination of a child. "I knew he would love it if he heard me on the radio singing - doot doot doo, lookin' out my back door", Fogerty has stated. [ [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5071 "Lookin' out My Back Door" by Creedence Clearwater Revival Songfacts ] ] Fogerty has also said that the reference to a parade passing by was inspired by the Dr. Seuss book, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street".

"Lookin' Out My Back Door", along with "Long as I Can See the Light" on the flip-side, was released as a single in July of 1970. The double sided single,counted as one entry by the methodology used by Billboard Magazine at the time, eventually climbed to number two on the Billboard chart (by comparison, "Long as I Can See the Light" only reached number fifty-seven on the concurrent Cash Box singles chart, which still tracked the performance on both sides of a single separately). This marked the fifth (and final) time the group had a double sided single accomplish that feat on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. The single was held out of the top spot by Diana Ross's cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough ("Lookin' Out My Back Door" "did" top the Cash Box singles chart for one week). "Long as I Can See the Light" also reached #20 on the U.K. Pop chart.

Heavy metal band Children of Bodom released a cover of the song on their 2008 album Blooddrunk.

It was featured in the Coen Brothers' movie "The Big Lebowski".

References