“Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver, January 4, 2022

A song and an artist with layers makes a blog entry more interesting. I spent the day while cleaning and house hunting getting to know a fascinating artist and listening to his genre-bending works; however, it all hinged on one song, his first hit, the song of the day. These days, I spend much more time talking about what I found out about the song, and link my readers to articles and podcasts for further information. Today, though, what initially struck me about this song was my memory with it, and I think that is the topic that is worth the majority of the discussion. But I will give my reader some homework, podcasts that tell the story of the artist, the songwriters, and the legacy of today’s song. I’ll throw a few factoids in along the way.

THE RADIO REMINDS ME OF MY HOME FAR AWAY. On certain occasions songwriter Bill Danoff listened to a bluegrass radio station based out of West Virginia. When he needed a state to name in his breakthrough hit,his home state of Massachusetts didn’t fit the song. Only co-writer, and eventual wife, Taffy Nivert Danoff had been to West Virginia, contributing what she saw in her drives from her home of Washington, DC to her college in Ohio.. The the songwriters hoped somehow that Johnny Cash would sing their song, but up-and-coming singer-songwriter Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., known better by his stage name John Denver, raised in New Mexico to a father in the Air Force sang the song and took it to #2 on the Hot 100 in 1971. Listeners would think that Denver or at least the songwriters grew up or had some intimidate knowledge of the beautiful gorge on what is now Interstate 64. Maybe somebody on the writing team would have a family member working in the coal towns. After all, the song "Take Me Home, Country Roads," became the fourth official state song of West Virginia. But Denver, Nivert, and Danoff were just as fake West Virginians as West Virginian senator Joe Manchin is a fake Democrat. That jab was just to reference and SNL skit only because we're on the subject of West Virginia.

OLDER THAN THE TREES, YOUNGER THAN THE MOUNTAINS. When I first came to Korea back in 2012, I lived in a small (by Korean standards) city. One day when I was walking downtown, passing a place where older Korean men gathered to play baduk or Go-stop, I heard on the loud speaker "Take Me Home, Country Roads" playing. There were two thoughts going through my brain. The first was not about West Virginia, but of the foothills of North Carolina and the dirt roads of Central New York. The second thought was How on earth did this song find its way to Korea? Part of the answer was the love for American/Western culture that still exists in Korea. In 1971, "Take Me Home" was a huge song. A Generation X Korean friend of mine said that listening to the radio when she was growing up, DJs played more non-Korean songs because of licensing fees. In my generation, though, K-pop developed and now Korean radio mostly plays songs from the late '90s to today, K-pop from H.O.T to BTS. Another part of the answer might be what Brooklyn-based writer Jason Jeong shared on an episode about the song in BBC's Soul Music. He shares that when his parents grew up, the song gave them the idea about moving to what they thought would be a land of prosperity. Jeong's father moved the family to New York City in the early 2000s, but soon became disheartened by the reality of the American Dream. Instead, they missed their homeland, rural South Korea. Jeong says that in America, his father continued to listen to that song, but it had changed its meaning. "West Virginia" no longer meant America. The episode also talks about the Jamaican recording by Toots and the Maytals, which substitutes "West Jamaica" for "West Virginia." "Take Me Home" isn't a song about West Virginia. It's a song about home, wherever you find it. It's about the place you grow up, whether it's West Virginia; Massachusetts; Jamaica; Mokpo, Korea.

 Read “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver on Genius.

John Denver live:

Toots and the Maytals:

Further listening:

The Story Behind Our Music: "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Succinct 4 minute history of the song.

Interview with Taffy Nivert:

BBC Soul Music "Take Me Home, Country Roads" Personal stories about the song's impact.

The '70s Buzz "John Denver" A podcast about memories from the '70s, which shares some interesting facts about John Denver.