I seems to me that 'Have you ever seen the rain' identifies "rain" as representing human suffering.
And 'Who stopped the rain" would be describing the ways that we have attempted to stop human suffering.
Long as I remember the rain been comin' down Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground Good men through the ages tryin' to find the sun And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?
This verse basically lays out the plot "Who is going to end human suffering that has been happening forever?"
I went down Virginia, seekin' shelter from the storm Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow Five Year Plans and New Deals, wrapped in golden chains And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?
Virginia=DC, "the tower"= the tower of Babel/world government, Five Year Plans, New Deals= the schemes of government, golden chains=control over the people but telling them how it is for their own good.
Heard the singers playin', how we cheered for more The crowd had rushed together, tryin' to keep warm Still the rain kept pourin', fallin' on my ears And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?
Crowd rushing together=communism
Of course, Fogerty doesn't say this is what it means but to me it seems so obvious I can't hear it any other way.
Great post. I do think some of their songs warn of troubled times coming.
They are a classic Americana band. Oddly enough with all that Cajun flavor and souther accent on songs I believe they are from San Francisco (area).