"Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert,
and John Denver, and initially recorded by John Denver. It was included on his
1971 breakout album Poems, Prayers & Promises; the single went to number 1 on
the Record World Pop Singles Chart and the Cash Box Top 100, and number 2 on
the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, topped only by "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by
The Bee Gees. It became one of John Denver's most popular and beloved songs,
and is still very popular around the world. It is considered to be Denver's
signature song. It also has a prominent status as an iconic symbol of West
Virginia, which it describes as "almost Heaven"; for example, it was played at
the funeral memorial for U.S. Senator Robert Byrd in July 2010.
Origins Starting December 22, 1970, John Denver
was heading the bill at The Cellar Door, a Washington, D.C. club. Danoff and
Nivert opened for him as a duo named Fat City. After the Tuesday post-Christmas
re-opening night, the three headed back to their place for an impromptu jam. On
the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in an automobile accident. He was taken
to the hospital, where a splint was applied. By the time they got back to
the house, he was, in his own words, "wired, you know".
Danoff and Nivert then told him about a song that they had been working on for
about a month. Inspiration had come while driving to a family reunion of
Nivert's relatives in nearby Maryland. To pass the time en route, Danoff had
made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. Later,
he changed the story to fit that of an artist friend, who used to write to him
about the splendors of the West Virginia countryside.
Originally, Danoff and Nivert had planned to sell the song to popular
country singer Johnny Cash, but when Denver heard the song and decided he had
to have it, the duo who wrote the original lyrics decided not to make the
sale. They sang the song for Denver and as he
recalled, "I flipped." The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and
moving lines around. When they finished, John announced that the song had to go
on his next album. The song was premiered December 30,
1970, during an encore of Denver's set, the singers reading the words from a
folded piece of paper. This resulted in a five-minute ovation, one of the
longest in Cellar Door history. They recorded it in New York City in January
1971. Danoff and his then-wife, Mary Nivert,
wrote "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and "Take Me Home, Country
Roads," both of which were hits for John Denver. The latter song was adopted as
an official state song by the West Virginia Legislature on March 7, 2014,
alongside three other pieces: "West Virginia Hills", "This is My West
Virginia", and "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home". Danoff has stated he had
never been in West Virginia before co-writing the song. He had even briefly
considered using "Massachusetts" rather than "West Virginia", as both
four-syllable state names would have fit the song's meter. Denver recorded about
a dozen Danoff compositions from 1972 through the end of his career.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" appeared on the LP Poems, Prayers & Promises and
was released as a 45 in the spring of 1971. Original pressings credited the
single to "John Denver with Fat City". It broke nationally in mid-April, but
moved up the charts very slowly. After several weeks, RCA Records called John
and told him that they were giving up on the single. His response: "No! Keep
working on it!" They did, and on August 18, 1971, it was certified Gold by the
RIAA for a million copies shipped. It has also sold an additional 1,142,000
downloads since it became available digitally.
Reception in West Virginia "Take Me Home, Country Roads" received
an enthusiastic response from West Virginians. The song is the theme song
of West Virginia University and has been performed at every home football
pre-game show since 1972. In 1977 Denver played for Morgantown High School and
even changed the wording to "Appalachian Mountains, Monongahela River". In 1980,
Denver performed the song during pregame festivities to a sold-out crowd of
Mountaineer fans. This performance marked the dedication of the current
Mountaineer Field and the first game for then head coach Don Nehlen. The song is
played for other athletic events and university functions, including after
football games, for which the fans are encouraged to stay in the stands and
sing the song along with the team. The popularity of the song has inspired
resolutions in the West Virginia Legislature to change the state song of
West Virginia to "Take Me Home, Country Roads". On March 7, 2014, the West
Virginia Legislature approved a resolution to make Take Me Home, Country
Roads the official state song of West Virginia. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin
signed the resolution into law on March 8.
The land features mentioned prominently in the song lyrics – the Shenandoah
River and the Blue Ridge Mountains – have only marginal associations with the
state of West Virginia, and would seem to be more appropriate to describe
western Virginia. The river passes through only the very eastern tip of the
Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in Jefferson County. Similarly, the vast
majority of the Blue Ridge also lies outside the state, only crossing into
West Virginia in Jefferson County. According to a radio interview with
Nivert, the road is close to her native Washington, D.C., and nearby Montgomery
County, Maryland, where Denver often visited. Clopper Road still exists
today, but the landscape has changed drastically from the bucolic scenery
that once surrounded it. Hillary Rodham Clinton quoted the song
in the opening line of her speech following her massive win in the 2008
West Virginia Democratic primary, stating: "You know, like the song says,
'It's almost heaven.'" Thomas, West Virginia based brewery,
Mountain State Brewing Company, produces an amber ale called 'Almost Heaven'
"named after John Denver's ode to West Virginia, Country Roads."
The song was played at the funeral memorial for Senator Robert Byrd at the
state capitol in Charleston on July 2, 2010.
Chart performance Covers
Eddy Arnold recorded it for his 1971 album, "Loving Her Was Easier"
Lynn Anderson recorded a cover for her 1971 album How Can I Unlove You.
Loretta Lynn recorded it for her 1971 album You're Lookin' At Country.
Skeeter Davis recorded it for her 1971 album Bring it on Home.
Ray Charles cut a cover of the song for his 1972 album A Message from the
People. Olivia Newton-John recorded a cover
version in 1973 that reached the top 10 in Japan and the number 15 in the UK,
but only reached No. 119 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100. It is
this recording which is eventually used as the opening song for Whisper of the
Heart a Studio Ghibli anime that uses "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as a plot
device featuring several renditions in Japanese including an end-title version
performed by Yoko Honna. In 1974, Lena Zavaroni recorded a cover
of "Country Roads" for her album Ma! Israel Kamakawiwoʻole recorded a version
for his 1993 album Facing Future in which West Mākaha, Hawaii is substituted
for West Virginia. The Christian ska band, The W's, covered
it on their 1999 album Trouble with X. Toots & the Maytals recorded a reggae
version in which the lyrics are altered to describe Jamaica: "Almost heaven,
West Jamaica," for instance, replaces Denver's "West Virginia." This version
was itself covered in Almost Heaven, a 2005 German film directed by Ed Herzog.
In the story, Helen Shuster is a German girl with a terminal illness who dreams
to be a country singer Nashville style and winds up in Jamaica. The song is
sung by Heike Makatsch, who plays Helen. Hermes House Band recorded a cover and
performed on Top of the Pops when the single was released in 2001.
Country pop vocalist Carrie Underwood performed the song during her Play On
Tour in 2010. Underwood performed the song in the bed of a pick-up truck over
the audience. In 1995, Yuji Nomi, a Japanese composer,
adapted the song to the Studio Ghibli movie Whisper of the Heart by changing
the lyrics in a humorous and ecology-aware way.
In 2008 Punk rock cover band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, covered it for
their album Have Another Ball. Country music artist Daryle Singletary
covered the song on his 2009 album "Rockin' in the Country".
In 2010 Swedish singer Meja covered the Studio Ghibli version of the song on her
album AniMeja. In 2012 singer/songwriter Mike Doughty
released a cover on his album The Flip Is Another Honey
In 2013, American folk singers Brandi Carlile and Emmylou Harris recorded the
song for the John Denver tribute album This Music is You: A Tribute to John
Denver. In popular culture
In the episode "Brought to You in DharmaVision," of the romantic sitcom
Dharma & Greg, Dharma and her friend Jane sing the song while riding in a
motorcycle and sidecar, taking a trip to the California redwoods.
In the Remember When episode of the popular HBO series The Sopranos, the
song is sung by a group of people in a mental health hospital where the
character Junior has been consigned. Earlier that year West Virginia
University beat Rutgers University in a pivotal basketball game. Some in New
Jersey claimed that using the song was poking fun at the state, but the
producers insisted the episode had been filmed long before that game had been
played. Bradford City A.F.C., an English
Football Club, have a variation for their stadium Valley Parade, with West
Virginia being replaced with Midland Road.
In the show The Office, Dwight and Andy play Country Roads. Season 5, Episode 23
References External links
Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics