{"id":89035,"date":"2026-07-12T21:40:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/the-universal-nostalgia-for-take-me-home-country-roads\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T21:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:40:57","slug":"the-universal-nostalgia-for-take-me-home-country-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/the-universal-nostalgia-for-take-me-home-country-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"The universal nostalgia for &#8220;Take Me Home, Country Roads&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>The first line of John Denver&#8217;s song &#8220;Take Me Home, Country Roads&#8221; calls West Virginia &#8220;Almost Heaven,&#8221; and when you&#8217;re up in the mountains, that description can feel pretty accurate.<\/p>\n<p><em>Almost Heaven, West Virginia<br \/>Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River<br \/>Life is old there, older than the trees<br \/>Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Country roads, take me home<br \/>To the place I belong<br \/>West Virginia, mountain mama<br \/>Take me home, country roads\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But these winding country roads were immortalized by someone who had never driven them.<\/p>\n<p>Correspondent Conor Knighton asked, &#8220;Had you <em>ever<\/em> been to West Virginia before you wrote the song?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Bill Danoff. &#8220;Well, in my dreams!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Danoff, along with his then-girlfriend and bandmate Taffy Nivert, played a rough draft of &#8220;Country Roads&#8221; for their pal John Denver after a gig one night in Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;John&#8217;s biggest contribution to anything at that point was just his enthusiasm: &#8216;Well, let&#8217;s finish it!'&#8221; Danoff laughed. &#8220;You know, at 1:00 in the morning, 1:30, you know? &#8216;Let&#8217;s get it!'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The three stayed up late collaborating on the version that hit the airwaves 55 years ago.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/1vrEljMfXYo?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com&amp;playsinline=1\" height=\"113\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" title=\"John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads (Audio)\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption>\n    <span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1vrEljMfXYo\" rel=\"noopener\">John Denver &#8211; Take Me Home, Country Roads (Audio)<\/a><\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JohnDenverVEVO\" rel=\"noopener\">JohnDenverVEVO<\/a><\/cite> on<br \/>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Danoff said, &#8220;When it came out in &#8217;71, you know, the Vietnam War was really rockin&#8217;. And we had, oh, hundreds of thousands of troops over there. So, coming home was a big, big deal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was a song about home, just not Danoff&#8217;s home. Knighton asked, &#8220;You&#8217;re from Massachusetts. Could it just as easily have been, &#8216;Almost heaven, Massachusetts&#8217;?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yeah, except I didn&#8217;t like that word!&#8221; Danoff replied. &#8220;West Virginia&#8221; <em>sounded<\/em> good. And as it turned out, a lot of other people thought so, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The song was John Denver&#8217;s first hit, and, despite some questionable geographic accuracy (the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River in the lyrics are barely within the state&#8217;s borders), West Virginians embraced it in a big way.<\/p>\n<p>Students at West Virginia University sing the song after victories.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/300iJNQo-Mw?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com&amp;playsinline=1\" height=\"113\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" title=\"WVU Football: Country Roads\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption>\n    <span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/300iJNQo-Mw\" rel=\"noopener\">WVU Football: Country Roads<\/a><\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/WVUFootballVideos\" rel=\"noopener\">WVUFootballVideos<\/a><\/cite> on<br \/>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It&#8217;s also a staple at wedding receptions. But the enduring appeal <em>outside <\/em>of the state has been more surprising. From television&#8217;s &#8220;The Office&#8221; to Germany&#8217;s Octoberfest, the song is known throughout the world.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout this year&#8217;s World Cup, it was the anthem of the U.S. team.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can think about the song as being about any place \u2013 it names West Virginia, but it doesn&#8217;t have to,&#8221; said West Virginia University assistant professor Sarah Morris. She has written about the global impact of &#8220;Take Me Home, Country Roads.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People take the song and re-appropriate it so that it&#8217;s about the place that&#8217;s home to them,&#8221; Morris said. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So, they just swap in their own geographic references?&#8221; Knighton asked. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Change the geographic references, change the lyrics, change the location. But it doesn&#8217;t really change the song, and it doesn&#8217;t change the <em>meaning<\/em> of the song.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>This Toots and the Maytals version was a hit in Jamaica: <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/lQFKMar4x-w?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com&amp;playsinline=1\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" title=\"Toots and the Maytals - Take Me Home Country Roads\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption>\n    <span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lQFKMar4x-w\" rel=\"noopener\">Toots and the Maytals &#8211; Take Me Home Country Roads<\/a><\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/stellina90punk\" rel=\"noopener\">Lisa Sixties<\/a><\/cite> on<br \/>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Hawaii, it&#8217;s &#8220;West Makaha.&#8221; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/vQJTIlKKYK8?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com&amp;playsinline=1\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" title=\"Take Me Home Country Road   Israel Kamakawiwo'ole\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption>\n    <span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vQJTIlKKYK8\" rel=\"noopener\">Take Me Home Country Road   Israel Kamakawiwo&#8217;ole<\/a><\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MackS30303\" rel=\"noopener\">MackS30303<\/a><\/cite> on<br \/>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From France to Brazil, there are countless reinterpretations. The song is hugely popular in Japan. The plot of the anime film &#8220;Whisper of the Heart&#8221; centers around a teenage girl who translates &#8220;Country Roads.&#8221; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-youtube-video embed--float-none embed--size-large embed--type-video\">\n<p>\n    <iframe class=\"embed__content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/xAec7236k5o?autoplay=0&amp;rel=1&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com&amp;playsinline=1\" height=\"113\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" title=\"Country road (japanese) Whisper of the heart version\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p><figcaption>\n    <span class=\"embed__caption\"><br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/xAec7236k5o?si=oe9mgdHbwfjjcsKC\" rel=\"noopener\">Country road (japanese) Whisper of the heart version<\/a><\/cite> by<br \/>\n      <cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@animejam7914\" rel=\"noopener\">Anime jam<\/a><\/cite> on<br \/>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The feeling of longing, of homesickness, is universal. &#8220;It&#8217;s the rare song that isn&#8217;t just singing about something, it&#8217;s causing it,&#8221; said country star Brad Paisley. He grew up in Glen Dale, West Virginia. He&#8217;s been playing &#8220;Country Roads&#8221; ever since he learned to play guitar, but the song gained new meaning for him when he left for Nashville.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think once you move away, the song takes on way more just character and depth,&#8221; Paisley said. &#8220;You hear that on the radio and you&#8217;re not in West Virginia, like, you hear that in your car and it comes on, and when you hear that iconic acoustic guitar part \u2013 &#8216;driving down the road I get a feeling that I should have been home yesterday.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-left embed--size-small\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/07\/11\/5eb37109-a4cc-4205-9de4-b8ac117799cd\/thumbnail\/620x934\/052ef14d523a0e84920459f57e5d6775\/take-me-home-country-roads-cover-west-virginia-university-press.jpg#\" alt=\"take-me-home-country-roads-cover-west-virginia-university-press.jpg \" height=\"934\" width=\"620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/07\/11\/5eb37109-a4cc-4205-9de4-b8ac117799cd\/thumbnail\/620x934\/052ef14d523a0e84920459f57e5d6775\/take-me-home-country-roads-cover-west-virginia-university-press.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/07\/11\/5eb37109-a4cc-4205-9de4-b8ac117799cd\/thumbnail\/1240x1868\/fa04a9479026d7b882b766c58c8865eb\/take-me-home-country-roads-cover-west-virginia-university-press.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                West Virginia University Press<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Morris said, &#8220;Leaving and homecoming has always been something that West Virginians have experienced. But we&#8217;ve been at a loss in our population since 1950. So, I think it&#8217;s a perennial mood for West Virginians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Including Knighton. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I grew up in the capital city of Charleston,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I learned to ride my bike on country roads. I left the state after high school, but I&#8217;m still nostalgic for it. It&#8217;s like the song says \u2013 &#8216;All my memories gather round her.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Morris said, &#8220;One of the things that I&#8217;ve been thinking about is a Welsh concept called <em>hiraeth<\/em> \u2013 this deep longing for someplace that you can&#8217;t quite name, that&#8217;s home but maybe more. It&#8217;s maybe a place that you&#8217;ve never been, or the home that you&#8217;ve only dreamed of. It&#8217;s this deep pull toward place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Those thousands of fans in stadiums thousands of miles away from the Mountain State, aren&#8217;t necessarily singing about West Virginia. They were singing about home. Danoff said, &#8220;The place really is immaterial. It&#8217;s &#8216;the place I belong.&#8217; I think that&#8217;s the key line. That&#8217;s what people are looking for in their lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>An earlier version of this story was originally broadcast on December 26, 2021.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more info:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<br \/>Story produced by Aria Shavelson. Editors: Remington Korper and George Pozderec.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"chartbeat\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  component--type-recirculation-collection\">\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n 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