Take Me Home, Country Roads

"Take Me Home, Country Roads"
Single by John Denver
from the album Poems, Prayers & Promises
ReleasedApril 12, 1971 (1971-04-12)
RecordedJanuary 1971, New York City
GenreCountry[1]
Length3:17
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
John Denver singles chronology
"Friends With You"
(1971) 		"Take Me Home, Country Roads"
(1971) 		"Everyday"
(1972)
Audio
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (audio) on YouTube

"Take Me Home, Country Roads", (also called "Take Me Home" or "Country Roads") is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, and John Denver about the state of West Virginia. Some people tend to believe it is about Western Virginia or even Maryland [source?]. West Virginia is home of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah river. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971. It got to number 2 on Billboard's US Hot 100 singles for the week ending August 28, 1971. The song was a success on its first release. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1971, and Platinum on April 10, 2017.[2] The song became one of John Denver's most popular songs. It still sells, with over 1.5 million digital copies sold in the United States.[3] It is considered to be Denver's signature song.[4]

The song has a status as an iconic symbol of West Virginia, which it describes as "almost Heaven". In March 2014, it became one of the four official state anthems of West Virginia.

Reception in West Virginia

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" received a positive response from West Virginia people. The song is the theme song of West Virginia University. It has been performed during every home football pregame show since 1972.

This song was played at the funeral memorial for West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd at the state capitol in Charleston on July 2, 2010.[5]

The popularity of the song has gotten bills in the West Virginia Legislature to make "Take Me Home, Country Roads" an official state song. On March 7, 2014, the West Virginia Legislature approved a bill to make "Take Me Home, Country Roads" an official state song of West Virginia. They did this along three other songs: "West Virginia Hills", "This is My West Virginia", and "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home".[6] Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the resolution into law on March 8, 2014.[7]

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8] 3
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[9] 5
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[10] 17
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[12] 3
US Hot Country Singles (Billboard)[13] 50

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[14] Gold 25,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Gold 500,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[2] Platinum 1,535,000[3]

double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Other versions

Fallout 76 version

A cover version of the song, a collaboration between Copilot Music and Sound and the vocal group Spank, exists. It was commissioned for and shown in both the teaser and full E3 2018 trailers for the 2018 video game, Fallout 76. The game's story is set in West Virginia.[16] Released as an iTunes-only single on July 4, 2018, the song reached #1 on the iTunes singles chart.[17] It debuted at #41 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart that week and at #21 on Billboard's Country Digital Songs the following week.[17] The official YouTube upload of the original John Denver recording, first uploaded in 2013, would later edit its description to mention the use of the song in the game.[18]

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
US Country Digital Songs (Billboard)[17] 21
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[17] 41

References

  1. ↑ Kurt Wolff; Orla Duane (2000). Country Music: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 425. ISBN 978-1-85828-534-4.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "American single certifications – John Denver – Take Me Home, Country Road". Recording Industry Association of America.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bjorke, Matt (March 9, 2019). "Top 30 Digital Country Tracks: March 11, 2019". Roughstock. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ "John Denver - UNPLUGGED COLLECTION [IMPORT] Music CDs" (list), Choose, 2007, webpage: JD-Collect Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Garcia, Jon (July 2, 2010). "Eulogizing Sen. Robert Byrd: The Hard Working, if Imperfect, Senator". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 5, 2010.
  6. ↑ "W.Va. Takes home 'Country Roads' - News - the Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -". Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  7. ↑ "Eyewitness News". Archived from the original on 2014-03-08. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  8. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 7580." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. September 4, 1971.
  9. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 5331." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. August 14, 1971.
  10. ↑ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 5339." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. August 14, 1971.
  11. ↑ "John Denver Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  12. ↑ "John Denver Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Hot Country Singles". Billboard. Vol. 83, no. 36. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 4, 1971. p. 32. ISSN 0006-2510.
  14. ↑ "Italian single certifications – John Denver – Take Me Home, Country Roads" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved April 15, 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  15. ↑ "British single certifications – John Denver – Take Me Home, Country Roads". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Take Me Home, Country Roads in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  16. ↑ Kuchera, Ben (11 June 2018). "Fallout 76 has everyone humming John Denver". Polygon. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Hampp, Andrew (31 July 2018). "Songs for Screens: How a John Denver Classic Resurfaced Thanks to 'Fallout 76'". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  18. ↑ "John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads (Audio)". YouTube. April 5, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2018. John Denver's official audio for 'Take Me Home, Country Roads', as featured on Fallout 76.