Creedence Clearwater Revival, a band celebrated for their timeless rock anthems, offers a quietly poignant moment in their seventh and final studio album, Mardi Gras, released on April 11, 1972. Among its tracks stands “What Are You Gonna Do,” a song that diverges sharply from the band’s classic, high-energy hits. Written and sung by drummer Doug Clifford, the 2:50-minute piece captures the essence of resignation and realistic reflection that marked the band’s waning days.
Unlike the majority of Creedence’s previous hits, which prominently featured John Fogerty’s songwriting and vocal talents, “What Are You Gonna Do” is a modest and unpretentious track. It emerged from an album that was notable for an unusual distribution of songwriting and vocal duties among the remaining band members—Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and John Fogerty—in a three-way production effort during the sessions of 1971-1972. The album itself, reflecting internal band tensions, especially after the departure of Tom Fogerty, has been described as a patchwork of voices and styles.
Doug Clifford’s vocal performance in the song is serviceable but strikingly plainspoken, resembling a neighbor telling a simple story rather than a frontman commanding a stage. Jamie Roberts, a music historian specializing in rock bands of the 70s, noted,
“Doug’s singing on ‘What Are You Gonna Do’ is like overhearing a candid conversation at the end of a long day; it’s that mix of curiosity and acceptance that you feel when you’re already halfway out the door.”
This tone creates an emotional core in the music that resonates more like an intimate dialogue than an anthemic declaration.
The lyrics avoid grandiose themes common in their earlier works, focusing instead on everyday decisions and their immediate consequences. The song expresses a wearied questioning about personal responsibility in relationships and life choices, reflecting the album’s broader themes of shared creative control and the strains it caused. Lisa Meng, a longtime fan and cultural commentator on music narratives, observed,
“It’s the small, human moments in ‘What Are You Gonna Do’ that hit hardest—the repeated questions after countless misunderstandings. It’s a farewell that feels like a quiet conversation you have with yourself when you realize things won’t ever go back to the way they were.”
Beyond its lyrical content, “What Are You Gonna Do” stands as a symbol of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s last cooperative effort as a trio. By then, the band was dealing with the absence of Tom Fogerty and the pressures of redistributing creative control. The track’s simplicity and candidness contrast deeply with the band’s earlier, more polished hits. It captures the resignation and dignity of musicians trying to maintain democratic harmony where old leadership once existed.
For listeners who have matured alongside Creedence Clearwater Revival, the track offers a shift from youthful exuberance to somber reflection. It is a testament to the band’s evolution and the realities of change, portraying a period when the easy camaraderie of the past had given way to the sober realities of personal and professional fractures.
When revisited today, “What Are You Gonna Do” is like finding a short, honest letter hidden in the cracks of history—a domestic epitaph of sorts that acknowledges the complicated truth of life’s small dramas. Rather than a grand finale, the song quietly acknowledges that sometimes the purest response to hardship is simply to ask the difficult questions and then continue onward. Its legacy is not one of monumental rock prophecy but of grounded, raw human storytelling, a rare glimpse into the final chapters of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s storied journey.