Life lessons from weddings, Tina Turner, and a rock-n-roll beauty queen named Betty.

Original Post Date: 05.11.2021. Revised 07.19.2025.

I’ve come to think of the song Proud Mary as the musical equivalent of an all-purpose household cleaner.

It gets used everywhere for everything—graduations, weddings, anniversary parties, retirement send-offs, family reunions. Name the occasion, and chances are that before the evening is over, someone who’s had one-too-many refreshing adult beverages will stagger into the spotlight, drape themselves over a best friend’s shoulders, and start mumbling, “I left a good job in the city…”

Next thing you know, the crowd stampedes toward the dance floor, their big wheels turning in every direction that their inhibitions—and blood-alcohol levels—will allow.

Growing up, Proud Mary (and its distant cousin, Joy to the World by Three Dog Night) were wedding dance staples. The band always saved those two songs for the end of the evening, once the adults—now lined up three-deep at the bar—had endured their fair share of waltzes, fox trots, polkas, and cha-cha-chas. At that point, they were more than happy to relinquish the floor to their kids, who couldn’t wait to groove to music of their own generation.

One of the band members would dim the lights and plug in a rotating disco light wheel—green, blue, yellow, red—that splashed color across the ceiling like a cheap planetarium show. That was the cue to grab a cousin (or a reluctant sibling), drag them onto the dance floor, and try to teach them how to shimmy like Tina Turner.

More often than not, your dance partner would vanish halfway through the first verse, disappearing into the men’s room—the one boundary they knew you wouldn’t cross, no matter how desperate you were for a dance partner.

Decades later, Proud Mary still makes the rounds. At the last wedding I attended, it may not have been on the couple’s playlist, but no one was surprised when the slightly inebriated father-of-the-bride shouted at the DJ, “Hey! We want to hear Proud Mary!” And since he was footing the bill, no one argued. He waited patiently while the crowd finished twerking to Uptown Funk, then grabbed a spare mic and, without missing a beat, started belting out: “..left a good job in the city…”

Now that Riverboat Queen has docked at my local rec center, where every Monday and Thursday morning, our exercise class gathers to move and groove to a playlist curated by our instructor. The music lifts our spirits as much as it strengthens our bodies.

One of our favorites? Proud Mary.

I may be one of the younger members of the class but let me tell you—when it comes to keeping up, I’ve got serious competition. Especially if you’re dancing next to Betty. Her wheels may not turn as fast, and she may only paddle—but she’s there, every class, every week, keepin’ up and gettin’ down as best she can.

She’s a gentle reminder that whatever’s happened in our lives—and whatever our futures may hold—we just need to keep “rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.”

I’d love to know the one song that always gets you moving — or brings back the best memories.

“Big wheels keep on turnin’,” “I left a good job in the city,” and “rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river” are lyrics from the song “Proud Mary,” written by John Fogerty, © 1969. The song was first recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival and famously covered by Ike and Tina Turner in 1971.