Effigy

This song is just about persecution and scapegoating of minorities or unpopular groups or people in general. It refers to the old practice of burning likenesses of community figures or leaders to express displeasure. The imagery of the song calls to mind the scene in "Frankenstein" where the crowd went after the monster with torches and pitchforks. The reference to the silent majority not keeping quiet anymore is the tip-off that this is about mob justice, and the line "In the mornin' few were left to watch the ashes die." shows that we could all fall subject to the wrath of the mob for something or other, and thus it echoes Martin Niemöller's "First they came for the Jews..." speech, in which in the end there is no one left because everyone had participated in their way, by not objecting to the evil practices. CCR is saying don't give in to the mob mentality, to emotionalism and persecution of unpopular groups, because the public sentiment is fickle and you may find yourself becoming the subject of their wrath the next time around. It's a brilliant and chilling song about the evil that can come about when people give in to their base emotions and do not stand up for what's right.

after discussing and listening to this song, my boyfriend helped me see a different meaning of this song. CCR is from the South and came out during the Civil Rights movement, so i think (and so does he) that this song is about the KKK and them burning crosses on people's lawns. it talks about how they burnt the crosses, an effigy, to be against the blacks, but in the end, everyone gets hurt because "few are left to watch the ashes...". I think fogerty was talking about how everyone loses in this kind of situation.

Like it was stated before there could very much be a double meaning to the lyrics, I can see where the Civil Rights movement can be derived from the lyrics. When i look at the lyrics and i hear the song, I think its more talking about how we were being groomed to hate communism because of certain people (effigies) and we are just racing towards our immediate destruction, You have to look at the facts on this one, CCR was from the Bay area in California (Not the south), and this album was released in 1969 in the middle of the Vietnam war.

IMHO I would say it's more about revolution than it is civil rights or nuclear holocaust. There's too many references to a palace (the white house) and the silent majority and humble subjects for it to be about much else. the effigies that we would be burning would be of our former leaders after said revolution.

It's definetly a political song. But I'm not sure what it's exactly about. I already heard that Fogerty criticizes the Nixon government in this song (the "silent majority weren't keeping quiet anymore"--> they are against the government) (?)

For me, the most important thing in this song is the great expressive guitar solo. The music is very well done. But there's one thing I'd like to know: who is meant with "Effigy"?

This song is about nuclear holocaust. I think it sounds like it might be about a revolution as well. Fogerty was known for putting more than one meaning behind a song's lyrics. Either way it's a great tune... by the way, a rock band by the name of Uncle Tupelo remade this song and it's not too shabby. If you like this song you should check out their version.

Gov't Mule also does an incredible cover of it featuring Mike Watt on bass and Jerry Cantrell doing vocals with Haynes. Wonderful song, no matter who plays it.

I think that monasunshine has a good point I also think that its about the civil right movements

I sort of agree the elmer above. I think this song is mainly about class struggle.

Creedence hails from northern California, and they surely know about the burning of effigies at the Bohemian Grove. It has gone on for decades. Many of our leaders, "dignitaries," authors, artists, etc have been members. There is even a famous line from the Nixon tapes about the grove. Look up youtube videos: David Gergen is confronted about his experience, and so is Newt Gingrich in another clip.
They are occult rituals, and have been shrouded in secrecy. There is a small owl on the front of the US dollar bill, sitting on the crest of the numeral "1" in the upper right hand corner, at about 10 o'clock on the crest. It's only 1/16 of an inch high, so you really have to look. That is in honor of the grove - it's a depiction of the Owl of the Bohemia.

The "Silent Majority" mentioned in the lyrics is, well, you and me. The dumb masses who are clueless about the dark underbelly of the well-heeled.