“Proud Mary” is a rock song released by the band Creedence Clearwater Revival on the 1969 album Bayou Country. The song is about someone who leaves a hardworking but well-paying job and boards a riverboat called the Proud Mary in search of a better life. John Fogerty (guitarist and songwriter for the band) claimed that it was the first song he was ever proud of, even saying it was where his passion for songwriting began. “I especially remember writing ‘Proud Mary’ because I had never done it before. I had written songs, but they were always kind of ordinary. I was used to that, starting as about an eight-year old. I’d go, ‘Hey! I made a song!’ But I’d always known it was not very good. Until that wonderful afternoon when ‘Proud Mary’ happened. And I was just blown away. I was in shock, really. I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is really good!’” It proved to be one of the band’s biggest hits and was covered by a number of artists.