When I was growing up, my parents listened to a lot of music whenever we were driving anywhere. Some of my favorite songs were songs that I first heard when I was 2 or 3 and still living in Kentucky. My favorite song that I Remember listening to was “Country Roads” by John Denver. The idea about returning to nature and that John Denver is being called home to nature and that’s where he felt he belonged was a message that I can still look to because of how often I camp out and that I look forward to each new camping trip, almost as if the Forest is calling to me. Just something about the way it sounds was just really calming to me. I could be super mad at something and then I would turn on John Denver and sit there and listen and all my troubles would go away.
John Denver was a country/folk song singer in the late 60’s and early 70’s. He has created many songs that are now revered as classics (some of them are even state songs). “Rocky Mountain High” became one of Colorado’s state songs in 2007 and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” became one of West Virginia’s state songs in 2014. By 1974 he was one of America’s best selling performers and at the end of his career he released around 300 songs, 200 of which he composed, which sold about 33 million records worldwide. What made his songs so good was because all of his songs had common themes like the joys of nature and trials of relationships. He was also very instrumental in modernizing folk and country music in a era that was into rock and roll. Instead of loud noises and guitar solos, a lot of Denver’s music is just him singing while he plays the guitar, super simple and that’s what made it appealing because people wanted to listen to something that sounded calming and soothing.
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Denver’s most meaningful song is probably “Rocky Mountain High” because it seems like it is just talking about the Rocky Mountains but it is really about the celebration of life and nature. A lot of the song is talking about being “high” which can be interpreted as “being on drugs” but Denver actually testified in court in 1985 and said that he meant for that lyric to be about “being high on life”.
I recommend John Denver to anyone who likes Country or Folk music because John Denver’s music practically defines Country and Folk. But you don’t have to be a fan of these genres to like John Denver’s music, just listen to the messages that he presents to the listener and see what you think.
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It is crazy that a song from the 60's and 70's would become the state song for West Virginia. I really liked his song Rocky Mountain High. I can see why you like it too.
ReplyDelete"take me home, country roads" is a great song. I can totally see what you mean about it being a calming song.
ReplyDeleteThere's a video out there of Johnny Cash and John Denver singing country roads together and I absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to see how many songs he composed and how many albums he sold. I had never heard of John Denver until now, I'll have to check him out!
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