Songfacts®:

• A rare love song by John Fogerty, "Joy Of My Life" expresses his love for his wife, Julie. The ballad conveys how happy she makes him and how lucky he feels to be with her.
• John Fogerty met Julie Kramer in 1986 while he was on tour in Indianapolis, Indiana. They married on April 20, 1991, in Elkhart, Indiana.
• The idea for the song began in 1991 when Fogerty attended the Oshkosh aviation show in Wisconsin. The organizers there often asked him about Julie, and he would always reply, "She's the joy of my life." They then suggested that he should write a song about it.
  
  Fogerty started working on "Joy Of My Life" in earnest with a dobro in 1992, coming up with the riff while at the Kern River in California. The lyrics came to him later while he was lying in bed with his wife after putting their children to bed.
• Fogerty has generally focused on writing songs about the Bayou, war, politics, and other subjects, rather than love songs. The love songs he has recorded were mainly written by other writers. "Joy Of My Life" is arguably the first love song Fogerty wrote, though some might argue the case for Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Long As I Can See the Light."
• Fogerty recorded "Joy Of My Life" for his 1997 fifth solo album, Blue Moon Swamp. Written, produced and arranged by Fogerty, he played the dobro, bouzouki (Irish) and acoustic guitar. The other musicians were:
  
  Bob Glaub: bass
  Kenny Aronoff: drums
  Luis Conté: claves and tambourine
• Blue Moon Swamp won Best Rock Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards.
• Country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton covered "Joy Of My Life" for his 2020 album Starting Over. One of three cover songs on the record, the other two, "Worry B Gone" and "Old Friends," both came courtesy of Guy Clark.
  
  Released as a single on March 22, 2022, the minimalist ballad peaked at #27 on the US Country chart and #101 on the Hot 100.
• Stapleton's version of "Joy Of My Life" celebrates his wife – and musical co-creator – Morgane. It feels like a continuation of Kevin Welch's "Millionaire," which was a hit for Stapleton in 2018.