Context

This line is from the song "Proud Mary," written by John Fogerty and performed by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival on the album Bayou Country (1969).

Artists often describe their creations as coming from someplace outside themselves—the Force is with them, and all that stuff. They're not sure how or why it happens. John Fogerty himself said he didn't know where the words "Rollin', rollin' on the river" came from. Artists often aren't sure what they've created until John Q. Public tells them: "Oh, so that's what I meant."

It's about dropping out and living on a river boat. No! It's about the Proud Mary lard company. It's a coal-fired boat. No! It's a wood-fired boat. It's about black consciousness. No! It's about working on the river boat. No! It's about rolling down the river of life, a metaphor for life's journey.

Never mind all that. It's simply about an artist who thought his rhythm chords gave the song a boat-like motion, reminiscent of a movie he saw about two racing riverboats. The visual floated its way to the surface as he wrote the line. And the song title? It was just two words picked out of his notebook because he liked the way they sounded together, even though he didn't know what they meant (sorry, no mention of lard). Roll on over to this clip for a taste.

Where you've heard it

CCR is the soundtrack of blue-collar Americana, man. Chances are you've heard this in the background of any American-themed restaurant, from Chili's to Applebee's to TGIMcHoolihans—you name it.

Additional Notable References:

• Tina Turner

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This line is like a floating picnic. Pretentiousness don't look right on paper plates, y'all.