Black Moon Rising

Album: Black Pumas (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • Creedence Clearwater Revival gave us "Bad Moon Rising" in 1969, a song where a look to the sky shows there's trouble on the way. In this song, Black Pumas make it a "Black Moon Rising," with a mysterious woman enchanting the singer. It's not going to end well: she'll break his heart when the black moon rises.
  • Black Pumas are the duo of singer Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada. They met in Austin, Texas, and at first, their relationship was virtual. "Black Moon Rising" started as a demo Quesada sent to Burton called "Solar Eclipse." Burton came up with the lyric, and they recorded the song the first time they met in person.
  • "Black Moon Rising" was the first Black Pumas single, and it set the tone for their sound: Burton's vocal loud and clear with spacious drums, strings, and organ. It was released in 2018, then included on their self-titled debut album the following year. The group got a lot of attention on some of the more eclectic radio stations in America, and in 2019 they got a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. In 2020, their song "Colors" (from the same album) got a nomination for Record Of The Year; they performed that song at the ceremony, which took place in March 2021.
  • The music video was directed by Austin's Amos David McKay. It's like a mini horror movie, with the guys from Black Pumas trying to check into a motel but finding no one to help them. When they drive away, we see that the clerk is catatonic. On the road, they encounter the mysterious woman and fall under her spell. There's a wolf, and blood, but the rest is up to our imagination.

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