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John Denver's hit song isn't about West Virginia. There, I said it. It annoys me as a Virginian that people don't realize the landmarks being referenced in the song are primarily in Virginia, NOT West Virginia. Today we examine the story behind the hit song that John Denver didn't write.
That's right, the song was actually written by Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. The story behind the hit song is complicated and reading just one article won't give you the full picture, as always I have included the links used when synthesizing this article. I have tried to simplify the story by removing extraneous details and using the most consistent features from different accounts.
Bill Danoff had grown up near Springfield, Massachusetts and was familiar with rural and "country roads." He had always had a fondness for road travel and taking in the scenery. When he attended Georgetown University in Washington D.C. he began to take drives through the Maryland countryside, specifically the scenic Clopper Road. Danoff was a musician and was always writing bits and pieces of songs; his love for country road travel had found its way into a new song of his.
It is important to note that Danoff had never been to West Virginia when he was writing the song and hadn't really spent any time in Virginia in the beginning stages of the songwriting. It seems Danoff's chief concern was making the song sound good, which, I mean, is important if you want to write a hit song. While much of his nostalgia and memories were founded on locations in Massachusetts he felt it didn't work fit well in the song musically; and to be fair neither does western Virginia. So he went with West Virginia as it plays well musically and is a location which many associate with mountains, even if the tallest mountains in Virginia are significantly taller than those in West Virginia. Later on through his seemingly sporadic song writing Danoff did eventually venture into Virginia with his girlfriend Taffy Nivert. They took in the scenery down I-81 towards Roanoke, Virginia. This is where they encountered the Shenandoah River and Blue Ridge Mountains. I'm going to pause here and say the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River barely cross through West Virginia and are primarily located in Virginia. Importantly, Danoff felt these landmarks fit well in the song and he wove them into the song. While John Denver was visiting Washington D.C., Bob and Taffy (who were friends of his), decided to show him the song; Denver almost immediately liked the song and with a few small alterations...such as removing the second verse which involved naked ladies, it was performed at the Cellar Door Club in Washington. A recording of the song soon followed and the rest is history.
While this ramble was started with a twinge of malice, seeing the whole picture has made me more understanding and accepting of the song's characterizations. I had initially sought out to "drop a truth bomb" and tell people how it really was, Country Roads being more about Virginia than it is about West Virginia. After unpacking the whole story I realize this intention was foolish. Its just a song. A song that was inspired by Maryland. A song that was inspired my Massachusetts. A song that was inspired by Virginia. A song that sought to capture the feelings of someone from West Virginia. Bob Danoff wasn't maliciously attempting to boost West Virginia tourism or create and anthem of WVU football games, he was just trying to encapsulate his love of road trips and nostalgic childhood memories into a catchy ballad.
I'll let the West Virginians have this one, as one Reddit user so eloquently stated:
As an aside, I'm not sure if the grammar in the reply by sombertownDS is intentionally chaotic or not.
At the end of the day, like so many things, it's important to enjoy the song for what it is.
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