John Fogerty started with a random lyric idea. "Somewhere down the road". He looked at it and asked "What\'s down the road.". The answer was "someone terrifying". Sometimes song lyrics aren\'t metaphors. Sometimes they are about exactly what they describe. In this case a terrifying sorcerer. However some people do suggest that Fogerty got subconscious inspiration from the owner of the record label who had his old band Creedence Clearwater Revival under a contract and who was indeed a terrible old man with a really awful contract. That same man was the one who sued Fogerty because The Old Man Down Road sounded too much like...Fogerty. He sued Fogerty for ownership of Fogerty\'s distinctive style of music. \n\nAnd that\'s as close to trying to own someone\'s soul as anyone can get in the real world.
John Fogerty started with a random lyric idea. "Somewhere down the road". He looked at it and asked "What\'s down the road.". The answer was "someone terrifying". Sometimes song lyrics aren\'t metaphors. Sometimes they are about exactly what they describe. In this case a terrifying sorcerer. However some people do suggest that Fogerty got subconscious inspiration from the owner of the record label who had his old band Creedence Clearwater Revival under a contract and who was indeed a terrible old man with a really awful contract. That same man was the one who sued Fogerty because The Old Man Down Road sounded too much like...Fogerty. He sued Fogerty for ownership of Fogerty\'s distinctive style of music. \n\nAnd that\'s as close to trying to own someone\'s soul as anyone can get in the real world.