Song of the Day 1/27: Jonathan Clark, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”

Sunday seems like the right day for this elegiac reading of the Creedence classic.

Jonathan Clark is one of those Los Angeles professionals who’s been a working musician most of his life but nobody’s ever heard of. He’s toured behind lots of acts playing bass and singing harmony, most notably appearing on nine of Dwight Yoakum’s albums and supporting tours. He started writing for movies and TV about a decade ago and launched a low-key solo career on the side, but never earned much individual attention until this cover played over the end of an episode of “NCIS” last fall. It proved so arresting that iTunes and Spotify had to add it by popular demand.

The episode naturally involved Viet Nam flashbacks — Creedence is Hollywood shorthand for Viet Nam — but this song, unlike “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” isn’t about politics. John Fogerty said it was about the fact that despite their success, everybody in the band at the time were depressed and unhappy. His brother Tom quit soon after and the band itself dissolved a year later.