Walter and Eric said they’d put him on a network TV show
The White House said, “Put the thing in the blue room”
The Vatican said, “No, it belongs to Rome”
And Jody said, it’s mine but you can have it for seventeen million
This is one Creedence song that you don’t hear everyday…that doesn’t make it any less of a song than their others.
It’s about a farmer called Jody who finds a UFO and become famous. The event first triggers fear and later greed. Between the lines, there’re also sarcastic remarks on American show business, media and politics.
The character of “Jody” comes up in other songs of John Fogerty. Jody is in Almost Saturday Night, Hey Tonight and this one of course.
The song name checks different people and places. Ronald Reagan, Spiro Agnew, The White House, Hollywood, and the Vatican. Also in the mix are news reporters Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid.
It Came Out Of The Sky was never released as a single in America. In the UK it was backed with Side of the Road. It didn’t get much airplay there and didn’t chart.
The song was on the album Willy and the Poor Boys…a great album that peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, and #10 in the UK in 1970. Creedence had 18 songs in the top 100 and 9 top 10 hits yet no number 1’s in the Billboard 100…which I still find hard believe.
The song appeared in an episode of Better Call Saul and WKRP…the classic episode of Turkey’s Away.
It Came Out Of The Sky
Oh, it came out of the sky, landed just a little south of Moline
Jody fell out of his tractor, couldn’t believe what he seen
Laid on the ground and shook, fearin’ for his life
Then he ran all the way to town screamin’ it came out of the sky
Well, a crowd gathered ’round and a scientist said it was marsh gas
Spiro came and made a speech about raising the Mars tax
The Vatican said, “Woe, the lord has come”
Hollywood rushed out an epic film
And Ronnie the popular said it was a communist plot
Oh, the newspapers came and made Jody a national hero
Walter and Eric said they’d put him on a network TV show
The White House said, “Put the thing in the blue room”
The Vatican said, “No, it belongs to Rome”
And Jody said, it’s mine but you can have it for seventeen million
Oh, it came out of the sky, landed just a little south of Moline
Jody fell out of his tractor, couldn’t believe what he seen
Laid on the ground a shakin’, fearin’ for his life
Then he ran all the way to town screamin’ it came out of the sky
Oh
One of their great album cuts!
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Fun! I’d never heard that one before. What a talent-laden catalog they had.
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Yea I really like this song. I had CCR’s Chronicles I and II…this one was on the second one. Those Chronicle albums were a must for CCR fans but now I wish I would have bought the albums…some songs are still left off.
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The only Jody that I ever knew was a girl and she was a wild one. This should have been a hit as it is some great swamp rock with marsh gas included.
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It is a time piece which is why I love it. Whenever I think of Spiro Agnew I think of those watches with him on it…I have one.
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When I think of Spiro Agnew, I recall him being an awful golfer.
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Well I vaguely “knew” this song, but never had a clue before what it was about! Loved it.
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I like all of the 60-70s referrences… Spiro and Uncle Walter telling us the news.
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One of the best tracks that wasn’t on the best of I had on cassette. Lot of great tracks on those records.
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Chronicles I and Chronicles II cover almost everything. Those are the two I started with.
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This one is new. Wow.
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It’s a good one
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The intro and riff is very Chuck Berry-like. Love this one!
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Didn’t recall this one. It sounds like classic CCR to me. They were just a great band!
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It’s a good one…it sometimes gets played on radio but not often
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I dont have a favorite Creedence song but this ones close. Great pick Max.
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