| "Take Me Home, Country Roads" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of the US single | ||||
| Single byJohn Denver | ||||
| from the albumPoems, Prayers & Promises | ||||
| B-side | "Poems, Prayers and Promises" | |||
| Released | April 12, 1971 (1971-04-12) | |||
| Recorded | January 1971, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| John Denver singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio video | ||||
| "Take Me Home, Country Roads" onYouTube | ||||
"Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written byBill Danoff,Taffy Nivert andJohn Denver. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two onBillboard's US Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending August 28, 1971. The song was a success on its initial release and was certified gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1971, and platinum on April 10, 2017.[3] The song became one of Denver's most popular songs and it has continued to sell, with over 1.8 million digital copies sold in the United States.[4]
The song is considered a symbol ofWest Virginia. In March 2014, it became one of the fourofficial state anthems of West Virginia.[5]
In 1998, Denver's 1971 recording was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.[6] In 2023, the song was selected by theLibrary of Congress for inclusion in theNational Recording Registry.[7]
Inspiration for the title line had come while Taffy Nivert and Bill Danoff, who were married, were driving alongClopper Road inMontgomery County, Maryland, to a gathering of Nivert's family inGaithersburg, with Nivert behind the wheel while Danoff played his guitar. "I just started thinking, country roads, I started thinking of me growing up in westernNew England and going on all these small roads", Danoff said. "It didn't have anything to do with Maryland or anyplace."[8]
To Danoff, the lyric "the radio reminds me of my home far away" in the bridge is quintessentially West Virginian, an allusion to when he listened to the programSaturday Night Jamboree, broadcast fromWheeling, West Virginia, onWWVA at his home in Springfield, Massachusetts, during his childhood in the 1950s.[9]
Danoff was influenced by friend and West Virginian actorChris Sarandon and members of a West Virginia commune who attended Danoff's performances.[9] Of the commune members, Danoff remarked, "They brought their dogs and were a very colorful group of folks, but that is how West Virginia began creeping into the song." While the song was inspired by Danoff's upbringing in Springfield, Massachusetts, he "didn't want to write about Massachusetts because [he] didn't think the word was musical."[9]
Starting on December 22, 1970, Denver was heading the New Year's bill atThe Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., withFat City opening for him, just as Denver had opened at the same club for then-headlinerDavid Steinberg. After the club's post-Christmas reopening night on Tuesday, December 29 (Cellar Door engagements ran from Tuesday to Sunday, and this booking was for two weeks), the three returned to the couple's apartment for an impromptu jam. On the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in a collision. He was rushed to the emergency room, where the thumb was splinted. When they returned to the apartment, Denver said he was "wired, you know."[10]
When Danoff and Nivert ran through what they had of the song they had been working on for about a month, planning to sell toJohnny Cash, Denver decided he had to have it, which prompted them to abandon plans for the sale.[11] The verses and chorus were still missing a bridge, so the three of them went about finishing.
Nivert got out an encyclopedia to learn more about West Virginia. The first thing she encountered was therhododendron, the state flower, so she kept trying to work the word Rhododendron into the song.Rhododendron was the title that Nivert had written down on the lyric sheet, which they later sent toASCAP.[9] The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and moving lines around.[12]
When they finished, on the morning of Wednesday, December 30, 1970, Denver announced that the song had to go on his next album.[12] Later that night, during Denver's first set, Denver called his two collaborators back to the spotlight, where the trio changed their career trajectories, reading the lyrics from a single, handheld, unfolded piece of paper. According to Len Jaffe, a Washington, D.C.-based singer-songwriter who attended the show where Denver premiered the song, this resulted in a five-minute standing ovation.[13] The next day was Denver's 27th birthday. They recorded it in New York City in January 1971.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" is written in thekey ofA major with a tempo of 82beats per minute.[14]
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" appeared on the LPPoems, Prayers & Promises and was released as a45 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.[citation needed] The single reached number 1 on theRecord World Pop Singles Chart and theCash Box Top 100, and number 2 on the USBillboard Hot 100, topped only by "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" byThe Bee Gees.
On August 18, 1971, the song was certified Gold by the RIAA for a million copies shipped.[15] It continued to sell in the digital era. As of January 2020, the song has also sold 1,800,000 downloads since it became available digitally.[4]
Denver's recording of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was selected by theLibrary of Congress for preservation in theNational Recording Registry in 2023.[16]
The song has since become an anthem of theBrisbane Lions, a professionalAustralian rules football club and is sung by the crowd every time Lions playerCharlie Cameron kicks a goal. The song was chosen by Cameron to be played in reference to his country roots.[17]
The song was interpolated in "Lonely Road" byMachine Gun Kelly andJelly Roll in 2024. It reached number 33 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart dated August 10, 2024, giving Denver his first top 40 appearance as a songwriter since the same song's appearance in the medley "Forever Country" by Artists of Then, Now & Forever peaked at number 21 in 2016.[4]
DuringSuper Bowl LIX, a Rocket Mortgage commercial entitled "Own the Dream" used the song, and it created a history-making moment by transitioning into a live, stadium-wide sing-along of the John Denver song that many fans joined in on. The unprecedented event, where the ad's narrative bled into the real-life stadium audience's reaction, was praised for creating a powerful moment of unity among the fans in the Caesars Superdome.[18]
The song has been an anthem forManchester United's supporters across many decades, with these adapted lyrics: “Take me home, United Road, to the place, I belong. To Old Trafford, to see United, take me home, United Road!”. It was also chosen by captainBruno Fernandes to play shortly before kick-offs atOld Trafford.[19]
Regional anthem ofWest Virginia | |
| Lyrics | Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert |
|---|---|
| Published | April 12, 1971 |
| Adopted | March 2014 |
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" received an enthusiastic response from West Virginians.[20] On November 1, 2017, the West Virginia Tourism Office announced it had obtained the rights to use "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in its marketing efforts."'Country Roads' has become synonymous with West Virginia all over the world", said West Virginia Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby. "It highlights everything we love about our state: scenic beauty, majestic mountains, a timeless way of life, and most of all, the warmth of a place that feels like home whether you've lived here forever or are just coming to visit." The opening phrase of the song, "Almost heaven", became a primary tourism office slogan.[21]
The song is the theme song ofWest Virginia University, and it has been performed during every home football pregame show since 1972. The song is also played after every home victory and fans are encouraged to stay in the stands and sing along with the team. It is also played for other athletic events and university functions.[22] On September 6, 1980, at the invitation of West Virginia GovernorJay Rockefeller, songwriters Danoff, Nivert, and Denver performed the song during pregame festivities to a sold-out crowd of Mountaineer fans. This performance marked the dedication of the current West Virginia UniversityMountaineer Field and the first game for head coachDon Nehlen.[23]
The popularity of the song inspired resolutions in theWest Virginia Legislature to adopt "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as an officialstate song. On March 7, 2014, the West Virginia Legislature approved a resolution to make "Take Me Home, Country Roads" an official state song of West Virginia, alongside three other pieces: "West Virginia Hills", "This Is My West Virginia", and "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home".[24] The next day, governorEarl Ray Tomblin signed the resolution into law.[25]
The song was played at the funeral for West Virginia SenatorRobert Byrd at thestate capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, on July 2, 2010.[26]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[38] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[39] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[40] | Platinum | 100,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[41] | 5× Platinum | 150,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[42] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[43] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[15] | Platinum | 1,800,000[4] |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Olivia Newton-John released a cover version in January 1973 that reached number 6 in Japan and number 15 in the UK.[44] It was the lead single from her third studio album,Let Me Be There. This version, as well as the song itself, features prominently in the Japanese animated film,Whisper of the Heart.
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland (IRMA)[45] | 5 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[46] | 15 |
| USBillboardBubbling Under Hot 100[47] | 115 |
Jamaican reggae groupToots and the Maytals recorded a cover version for their 1974 albumIn The Dark. The lyrics are altered slightly to refer to the group's home country of Jamaica with specific references to the island's West end.
| "Country Road" | |
|---|---|
| Single byYōko Honna | |
| B-side | "The Window in Half" |
| Released | June 25, 1995 (1995-06-25) |
| Length | 4:24 |
| Label | Tokuma Japan Communications |
| Songwriters |
|
Japanese voice actressYōko Honna recorded a cover version for the 1995 filmWhisper of the Heart simply titledCountry Road with new lyrics by Mamiko Suzuki, the daughter ofStudio Ghibli producerToshio Suzuki and screenwriterHayao Miyazaki. The Olivia Newton-John version of the song also plays during the film's opening credits.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Road" | 4:24 |
| 2. | "The Window in Half" | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Country Road (Instrumental)" | 4:24 |
| "Country Roads" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byHermes House Band | ||||
| from the album The Album | ||||
| Released | May 21, 2001 (2001-05-21) | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | XPLO Music | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| Hermes House Band singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Dutch pop bandHermes House Band covered the song and released it as "Country Roads". This version was first released in Germany on May 21, 2001,[48] and was issued in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2001, where it was a contender for the 2001Christmas number-one single.[49] This version was a chart success in Europe, reaching number one in Scotland, number two in Germany and Ireland, and the top 10 in Austria, Denmark, and the United Kingdom.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Roads" (original radio edit) | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Country Roads" (happy dance version) | 3:20 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Roads" (original radio edit) | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Country Roads" (happy dance version) | 3:20 |
| 3. | "Country Roads" (karaoke version) | 3:20 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Roads" (original live radio version) | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Country Roads" (original radio version) | 3:22 |
| 3. | "Country Roads" (dance radio version) | 3:20 |
| 4. | "Country Roads" (happy party radio version) | 3:20 |
| 5. | "Country Roads" (original live extended version) | 4:24 |
| 6. | "Country Roads" (dance extended version) | 4:14 |
| 7. | "Country Roads" (happy party extended version) | 4:26 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Roads" (original radio version) | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Country Roads" (original live extended version) | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Country Roads" (dance extended version) | 4:14 |
| 4. | "Country Roads" (video) | 3:22 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Roads" (original radio version) | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Country Roads" (original live extended version) | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Country Roads" (original dance extended version) | 4:14 |
|
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[74] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[75] | Platinum | 500,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[76] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
The song found further chart success as part of the "Forever Country" medley and video, created in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of theCountry Music Association Awards.[77]
A cover version of the song, a collaboration betweenCopilot Music and Sound and the vocal group Spank,[78] was commissioned for and featured in both the teaser and fullE3 2018 trailers for the 2018 video gameFallout 76, with its plot events set in West Virginia.[79] Released as an iTunes-only single on July 4, 2018, the song reached No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart.[80] It debuted at No. 41 onBillboard'sHot Country Songs chart that week and at No. 21 onBillboard's Country Digital Songs the following week.[80] The official YouTube upload of the original John Denver recording, initially uploaded in 2013, would later edit its description in response to the song's use for the game.[81] In Australia, a promotionalFallout 76vinyl featuring the cover was included with the December 2018 issue ofSTACK Magazine exclusively from retailerJB Hi-Fi.[82]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USCountry Digital Songs (Billboard)[80] | 21 |
| USHot Country Songs (Billboard)[80] | 41 |
| "Take Me Home, Country Roads" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Promotional single byLana Del Rey | ||||
| Released | December 1, 2023 (2023-12-01) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:46 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Zach Dawes | |||
| Lana Del Rey promotional singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "Take Me Home, Country Roads" onYouTube | ||||
American singer-songwriterLana Del Rey released a piano cover of the song on December 1, 2023.[83]
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland (IRMA)[84] | 96 |
| UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[85] | 49 |
| USHot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[86] | 23 |
John Denver's folksy, bucolic ramble "Take Me Home, Country Roads" also peaked at #2...
John Denver, Bill Danoff, and Taffy Nivert performing "Take Me Home, Country Roads" at the opening of West Virginia University's Mountaineer Field September 6, 1980. This audio recording includes the introduction by John Denver followed by the full song as recorded by WVAQ with Jack Fleming announcing.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)John Denver's official audio for 'Take Me Home, Country Roads', as featured on Fallout 76.
