<P> Lyrically, "Who'll Stop the Rain" breaks into three verses, with a historical, recent past, and present tense approach . All three verses allude to a sense of unending malaise, pondered by "good men through the ages", "Five Year Plans and New Deals / wrapped in golden chains", and the Woodstock generation . The malaise is not defined, but appears to allude to a sense that man's problems have to be dealt with by those who wish to fix them, and that no ancient philosophers, money - promising government, or Flower Power generation can merely push them off by thought, money, or communal love . There could be no end to warfare and poverty with patchwork economic plans which merely reorganize citizens into new productive forces once the pressures for social change have relaxed . The corrupt leadership within a government continued to wage perpetual war contrary to campaign promises . The song's universal topical appeal made it unusual in the time of its release and gives it a quality that helps it maintain its popularity 40 years later . </P> <P> Musically, in contrast to the 1950s - Rock - inspired "Travelin' Band", "Who'll Stop the Rain" has more of an acoustic, folk - rock feel to it . Like many folk - rock songs, it starts off with a ringing acoustic guitar riff, though the backing throughout has more of a roots rock sound than that heard on more standard folk - rock recordings . Interpreting the song in its time period (1970), and the resigned but somewhat angry feeling of the song, many see "Who'll Stop the Rain" as a thinly veiled protest against the Vietnam War, with the final verse lyrics and its references to music, large crowds, rain, and crowds trying to keep warm being about the band's experience at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969 . There is also a line during the song's second verse about "five - year plans and new deals wrapped in golden chains" that may indicate a general cynicism altogether about self - centered politicians, hollow social movements, and corporate influence within the government . For his part, when asked by Rolling Stone about the meaning of the song's lyrics, John Fogerty was quoted as saying, </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> Certainly, I was talking about Washington, when I wrote the song, but I remember bringing the master version of the song home and playing it . My son Josh was four years old at the time, and after he heard it, he said,' Daddy stop the rain' . And my wife and I looked at each other and said,' Well, not quite' ." </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> Certainly, I was talking about Washington, when I wrote the song, but I remember bringing the master version of the song home and playing it . My son Josh was four years old at the time, and after he heard it, he said,' Daddy stop the rain' . And my wife and I looked at each other and said,' Well, not quite' ." </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr>

Who stop the rain by creedence clearwater revival