Credit: Myriam SantosJohn Fogerty is not happy about Proud Mary, the new movie about a hit-woman with a heart named Mary, starring Empire‘s Taraji P. Henson.
Not only does the movie borrow its title from Fogerty’s 1968 Creedence Clearwater Revival classic, but a variation on the song’s lyrics was used in promotional material for the film.
On Thursday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer took to Twitter to complain in a lengthy statement.
“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,” Fogerty writes. He adds, “This movie has nothing to do with me, or my song. They simply picked the title and wrote a completely fictitious story around it.”
Fogerty writes, “No one ever asked me about using my song this way, or even about the meaning of ‘Proud Mary.’ The movie poster has my lyrics changed to read…’killing for the Man every night and day.'”
Adding that he wrote the song about a “mythical riverboat,” Fogerty says the song, which he describes as the first good song he ever wrote, 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.”
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