Southern rock icon John Fogerty is not taking the new action-thriller film Proud Mary as a compliment.
The film's title borrows its name from Credence Clearwater Revival's first big hit, 1969's "Proud Mary," off the band's second album, Bayou Country. It also became a signature song for Tina Turner.
The film’s promotional materials also adapt lyrics from the song: "Working for the man every night and day."
Fogerty expressed his frustration in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“My songs are special to me. Precious. So it irks me when people seek to capitalize on the popularity of my music and the good will it has earned with the public for their own financial gain,” he said. “Over the years, I have often found myself directly opposed to these uses. This movie has nothing to do with me or my song. They simply picked the title and wrote a completely fictitious story around it.”
A trailer for the film even includes a cover version of "Proud Mary" as its soundtrack.
The violence in the film, which stars Taraji P. Henson as an assassin, also disturbs Fogerty because it's diametrically opposed to the message of the song.
“Back in the day, I had decided that I needed to become more professional, more organized about my songwriting efforts," he explained. "I bought a little notebook and after few days, I wrote down the words ‘Proud Mary’. It was the very first entry in this book. At first, I didn’t even know what those words meant. I wrote the song about a mythical riverboat, cruising on a mythical river, in a mythical time. Perhaps, the setting was 'back in time' on the Mississippi River. It was obviously a metaphor about leaving painful, stressful things behind for a more tranquil and meaningful life.
“Far from a story about killing people for money.”
A rep for the studio behind Proud Mary told Rolling Stone: "His complaint that the film has nothing to do with the song's message as ‘a metaphor about leaving painful, stressful things behind for a more tranquil and meaningful life’ is inaccurate. That is precisely what our Mary is looking to do, and Taraji nails it perfectly."
Despite his objections, the singer reportedly has no plans to pursue legal action.
Original article by Andrew Magnotta at iHeartRadio