‘The Old Man Down the Road’ is a song by American rock artist John Fogerty. It was released in December 1984 as the lead single from Fogerty's comeback album, Centerfield. It became Fogerty's only top 10 hit single as a solo artist, peaking at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and spending three weeks at the number-one spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Paul Evans regards the song as "functional swamp rock". Billboard said that it shows that Fogerty is "still able to infuse a pulsing beat with deep-swamp mysteriousness." Cash Box called it "a hard-hitting roots rocker which wastes no notes and pulls no punches."
‘The Old Man Down The Road’ is a depiction of the Devil using imagery found in many blues songs where a Faustian deal is struck. This is how Fogerty felt about his contract: he gave up his songs (and to some extent, his soul) so he could make music, and now he was paying the price. "It tells the story about a man standing in your way with a suitcase covered in rattlesnake hide, eyes as black as coal," Fogerty said. In his case, this demon is the record company.
The video for the song features what appears to be, through a little trickery, an extended single camera sequence that follows a very long electric guitar cord through various scenes. Fogerty appears throughout the video; four times as himself (standing next to the couple having a picnic, past the cheerleader on the phone just past when the bikers pull up, near the woman hanging laundry, and at the very end playing the guitar) and two other characters (the "backwoods" character at the very beginning of the video and the old man with the dog in his lap towards the end of the video.)
Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records claimed that ‘The Old Man Down the Road’ shared the same chorus as ‘Run Through the Jungle’, a song from Fogerty's days with Creedence Clearwater Revival years before. (Fogerty had relinquished copyrights and publishing rights of his Creedence songs to Zaentz and Fantasy, in exchange for release from his contractual obligations to them.) Zaentz sued Fogerty, but the defendant Fogerty ultimately prevailed when he showed that the two songs were whole, separate and distinct compositions. Bringing his guitar to the witness stand, he played excerpts from both songs, demonstrating that many songwriters (himself included) have distinctive styles that can make different compositions sound similar to less discerning ears.
After his win, Fogerty asked the court to require Zaentz to pay for the attorney fees he had spent to defend himself against the copyright infringement claim. In such copyright cases, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit required prevailing defendants seeking recompense to show that the original suit was frivolous or made in bad faith. This case, Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., became precedent when the U.S. Supreme Court (1993) overturned lower court rulings and decided that Fogerty could be awarded attorneys' fees without having to show that Zaentz's original suit was frivolous. The lower courts then decided that Fogerty should be awarded his attorney fees, totalling $1,347,519.15.
It wasn't until 2023 that Fogerty gained control of his own catalogue by buying it from Concord Music, which had acquired the Fantasy catalogue.
Label – Warner Bros.
Songwriter – John Fogerty
Producer – John Fogerty
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]He take a thunder from the mountain
He take a lightnin' from the sky
He bring a strong man to his beggin' knee
He make the young girl's mama cry
[Chorus]
You got to hidey-hide
You got to jump and run
You got to hidey-hidey-hide
The old man is down the road
[Verse 2]
He got the voices speakin' riddle
He got the eye as black as coal
He got a suitcase covered with rattlesnake hide
And he stands right in the road
[Chorus]
You got to hidey-hide
You got to jump up, run away
You got to hidey-hidey-hide
The old man is down the road
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
He make a river call your lover
He make the barkin' of the hound
Put a shadow 'cross the window
When the old man comes around
[Chorus]
You got to hidey-hide
You got to jump and run again
You got to hidey-hidey-hide
The old man is down the road
The old man is down the road
[Outro]
Ah
You got to, you got to, you got to
Hidey-hidey-hide