A Different Voice on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Final Album
By the time Creedence Clearwater Revival released Mardi Gras in April 1972, the band’s story had already entered its final chapter. The group that had transformed American rock with songs such as “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” was no longer operating with the same creative balance that had defined its most successful years. Yet within that complicated farewell sits “What Are You Gonna Do,” a compact, direct song written and sung by drummer Doug Clifford.
At first glance, the track may seem modest beside Creedence’s biggest hits. It does not arrive with the cinematic sweep of “Long as I Can See the Light” or the swampy force of “Born on the Bayou.” Instead, “What Are You Gonna Do” works through economy. It is short, rhythmic, and conversational, built around a question that sounds as ordinary as it is unavoidable: when circumstances become difficult, how will you respond?
That simplicity is part of its appeal. Clifford does not treat the song as a grand declaration or a theatrical performance. His delivery is grounded and unpretentious, giving the recording the feeling of a musician speaking directly from experience. The song’s emotional force comes not from a dramatic vocal climax but from its steady insistence. It asks for action, courage, and self-awareness without pretending that life offers easy answers.
The Sound of a Working Band
“What Are You Gonna Do” carries the unmistakable identity of Creedence Clearwater Revival, but it also reveals a slightly different side of the group. The familiar ingredients are present: a firm rhythmic foundation, clean electric-guitar lines, and a lean arrangement that never allows the song to become overdecorated. Everything serves the groove. Nothing feels added simply for effect.
Clifford’s drumming is especially important to the track’s character. Rather than functioning only as background support, the drums give the song its physical movement. The beat keeps pushing forward, creating the sensation of a band at work rather than a studio production attempting to sound busy. There is a natural, almost conversational relationship between the vocal and rhythm section, as though the singer is asking the question while the music answers with motion.
The guitars follow that same practical philosophy. They do not crowd the arrangement with flashy gestures. Instead, they draw restrained lines around Clifford’s vocal, giving the song shape and color while preserving its plainspoken mood. Some listeners have suggested that Stu Cook takes on a more prominent lead-guitar role here, an intriguing detail because Cook was best known as Creedence’s bassist. Whether heard as a formal change in duties or simply as part of the band’s flexible late-period approach, the guitar work contributes to the track’s sense of understatement.
A Song That Reflects the Tension of Mardi Gras
“What Are You Gonna Do” is particularly interesting because it appears on Mardi Gras, an album shaped by a new division of responsibilities. Earlier Creedence records were dominated by John Fogerty’s writing, singing, and arranging, while Clifford and Cook primarily supported those compositions as rhythm-section players. On Mardi Gras, however, all three members contributed songs and lead vocals.
That change gave the album a unique identity. It also exposed the creative tensions that had been building within the band. Instead of presenting one central songwriter’s vision, Mardi Gras becomes a portrait of three musicians taking turns at the microphone. The results are uneven by conventional standards, but they are historically revealing. The album captures Creedence attempting to redefine itself at precisely the moment when its internal unity was beginning to disappear.
Within that setting, Clifford’s song feels unusually personal. He was not simply filling a space in the track list; he was stepping forward to establish his own voice. His vocal is not modeled as a replacement for Fogerty’s gritty urgency. That is important. “What Are You Gonna Do” succeeds because Clifford sounds like himself. The performance has a drummer’s sense of timing and a working musician’s preference for direct communication. The song does not try to manufacture drama. It trusts the groove and the question at its center.
Everyday Doubt Turned Into Forward Motion
The title carries the song’s central tension. “What are you gonna do?” is a phrase that can sound confrontational, sympathetic, or quietly philosophical depending on how it is delivered. Clifford chooses the last of these possibilities. The question hangs over the track without becoming a sermon. It may refer to personal responsibility, uncertain relationships, hard economic realities, or the general pressure of making decisions when there is no perfect option.
That open-ended quality makes the song easy to connect with decades after its release. Clifford’s writing does not rely on elaborate imagery or complicated storytelling. Instead, it turns familiar doubt into something rhythmic and memorable. The song understands that many of life’s biggest decisions arrive in ordinary settings, not during dramatic moments. A person goes to work, faces disappointment, considers the future, and eventually has to decide what comes next.
The arrangement reinforces that message. It keeps moving even when the lyric sounds uncertain. The rhythm does not wait for a grand resolution, and the guitars never transform the song into a melodrama. This tension between doubt and momentum is the track’s most effective musical idea. The singer may not know exactly what the future holds, but the band continues forward one beat at a time.
Why the Track Deserves a Fresh Listen
For listeners who know Creedence mainly through their greatest hits, “What Are You Gonna Do” offers a valuable glimpse into the band’s lesser-heard creative corners. It is not a showpiece designed to compete with “Green River” or “Travelin’ Band.” Its value lies elsewhere: in its intimacy, its restraint, and the opportunity to hear Doug Clifford move from behind the drum kit to the front of the song.
The recording also adds texture to the story of Mardi Gras. The album is often discussed through the lens of Creedence’s breakup, but concentrating only on that history can obscure the music itself. “What Are You Gonna Do” deserves to be heard as a song rather than merely as evidence of a band in trouble. Its compact structure, unfussy production, and steady performance give it an appealing honesty.
More than half a century later, the song still feels like a small but meaningful statement. Clifford takes a familiar question and refuses to inflate it. He lets the rhythm carry the uncertainty, lets the guitars stay lean, and lets the vocal speak in a clear, human voice. In the end, “What Are You Gonna Do” is not about finding a perfect answer. It is about facing the question, keeping your balance, and moving ahead.