Long As I Can See the Light

Background

"Long As I Can See the Light" is the flipside of "Lookin' Out My Backdoor", the third 45 rpm Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1970. It reached #57 on the Cash Box singles chart in the USA, #20 in the UK and #1 in Norway. 

"Long As I Can See the Light" is the one and only pre-1997 John Fogerty song that might be regarded as a love song. The soul-gospel number describes a man who's wandering far away but is able to find a way home if the candle is lighting in a window. 

On the recorded version, John Fogerty plays electric piano and a sax solo.  

Collector's notes

The "Lookin' Out My Back Door" b/w "Long As I Can See the Light" single was released with a similar cover sleeve in Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran Italy, Portugal, Spain amd Sweden. It was different from the one launched in Argentina, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and Turkey. There were two different Belgian cover sleeves (Peter Koers, Green River: An Illustrated Discography, 1999).  

In the UK, "Long As I Can See the Light" was placed on the A-side of the single, with "Lookin' Out My Back Door" on the flipside. 

Live versions

Creedence Clearwater never made it to play "Long As I Can See the Light" live in concerts. 

John Fogerty performed the song live for the first time on the opening leg of the Blue Moon Swamp Tour at The Fillmore in San Francisco on May 18th, 1997. The concert goers on this tour heard quite a stripped version: Fogerty replaced the sax solo with guitar and the electric piano was missing.  

Fogerty re-incarnated the song on the set list on the Australian Tour in fall 2005. In previous summer, Fogerty had hired a keyboardist onto his stage lineup. Matt Nolen enriched the live versions by the electric piano in 2005-2009 and Bob Malone from 2011 onwards. Fogerty still plays the solo on guitar. On the 1969 Tour, Fogerty performed "Long As I Can See the Light" by accompanying himself on the piano on the stage. 

Sound files of most of the John Fogerty live concerts have officially been made available as per the North American Tour in fall 2013. 

Extraordinary live versions of the song include the one Fogerty performed with a big orchestra (Il Novecento Orchestra)  in fall 2010.

In the movies

"Long As I Can See the Light" is heard in a couple of films:

• Red Dawn (2012)

• State Of Play (2009)

It also appears in the ending scene of a Finnish movie Muuttolinnun aika (1991). 

TV series include

• How I Met Your Mother, episode Weekend at Barney's (2013)

• Las Vegas, episode Always Faithful (2004)

Critical reception

"---is a complete departure from all their previous hits. --- starts very slow and deliberate with John's almost pleading vocals." -Roy Carr, New Musical Express, July 25th, 1970.

"---a fine composition with more saxophone work and a strong Otis Redding flavor. Released as a single, it could easily end up on soul station play lists---." -John Grissim, The Rolling Stone, September 4th, 1970. 

"--- the majestic mingle of saxes and frantic vocals on 'Long As I Can See The Light' is the best end to a CCR record ---." -George Starostin. 

"On "Long as I Can See the Light" --- he again finds solace in home, anchored by a soulful, laid-back groove. It hits a comforting, elegiac note, the perfect way to draw Cosmo's Factory --- to a close." -Thomas Erlewine, All Music. 

Fans' views

"Shows the restrained power that was one of John Fogerty's main assets as a performer."

"Tremendous vocals. Maybe his best. This song drips with soul."

"Sweet and sad. The closest thing John ever wrote to a love song - other than his song for Julie - but it was so much more than that. At the time of the Vietnam war, it was for all the soldiers, too. It was a song soldiers who were going away could sing, their girlfriends and their sisters and their mothers would all cry hearing it. But it also spoke to the restlessness of that generation, the restlessness and the idealism, the idea that love would wait, would always be there. And then of course on an even more personal level, it was about the constant leaving and coming home that a traveling musician experiences. Really a wonderful song to work on so many levels."

"Fogerty has proudly shown his country roots and influences through the years, but his vocal style also owes a huge debt to old school soul and r&b.  This soulful ballad proves that Fogerty has the vocal finesse and power to match the era's best."

"The best ballad through history."

The 2013 remake

John Fogerty recorded a new version of the song alongside My Morning Jacket for his collaboration album Wrote a Song for Everyone that was released in May 2013. The remake was recorded at Blackbird Studio in Nashville on May 2nd, 2012.

The 2022 remake

In 2022, Dolly Parton recorded a new version of "Long As I Can See the Light" as a duet with John Fogerty for her album Rockstar. The song was released in November 2023.

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