July 31, 2014
It’s Throwback Thursday! Today’s #tbt song is from John Denver’s 1971 album by the same name.
Okay, I have to admit it, I have always been a John Denver fan. I know nearly all of his songs and can pretty much sing along to every one. I grew up on his music at home, loved going to his concerts, and was sad when he passed away much too early. It is hard to imagine a music blog without at least one song by him.
I am sure after reading my post yesterday, you know that I am feeling a little sentimental and maybe even a touch sad this week and there is nothing quite like a John Denver song to bring out the melancholy. He certainly has plenty of music that is knee-slapping and jovial, but he had an incredible way of capturing everyday emotions in his poetry and music. I truly believe that there is a John Denver song for almost every emotional moment in life. This song certainly captures my moment now.
How many of you have listened to “Annie’s Song” (my personal favorite), “Leaving On a Jet Plane,” “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” “or “Take Me Home Country Roads” when there was absolutely nothing else that could capture the moment quite like the lyrics of a John Denver song. I have a hard time believing that I am the only one who has done that at some point. Even to this day when I am in the mountains, there is no song that I love to hear more than “Rocky Mountain High!” In fact, I am sitting here listening to it now and it just makes me feel the freedom of that space even though I am sitting here in my house far from the mountains I love. Factoid: Did you know that the Colorado legislature adopted that song as the second official song of Colorado in 2007? It certainly seems like a natural fit.
Although I don’t listen to his music very often, I would probably have to list John Denver‘s music among my very favorites – so many great songs and even more years of memories that it awakens.
John Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. in Roswell, New Mexico on December 31, 1943. He was hugely popular throughout the 1970s and early 80s. He was well-known not only for his music, but also for his activism – a humanitarian and an environmentalist. He died shortly before his 54th birthday, in October 1997, when the plane he was piloting went down over Monterey Bay, California. Oddly, as I was thinking about posting this song today, I saw that John Denver’s former Aspen (Rocky Mountain) home went on the market and was listed in the Wall Street Journal today. Weird coincidence. Anyone in the market? 🙂
Not Your Mom's Playlist 