John Denver's Unvisited Country Roads

American singer-songwriter John Denver was born in New Mexico, yet one of his most famous songs became an anthem for West Virginia. When "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was released in 1971, neither Denver nor his co-writer, Bill Danoff, had ever visited West Virginia. The song's lyrics drew inspiration more from an idealized image of rural America than from firsthand experience. Despite that, "Country Roads" became closely associated with the state and remains one of its most beloved cultural symbols.

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