While writing "Flashback Friday" I am often searching for just the right song,
or what could be considered the featured artist or group's "signature song".
American singer/songwriter and 1970's music icon John Denver has
several songs which could be considered his "signature songs", including
"Sunshine On My Shoulders" "Back Home Again" and "Country Roads".
One of my favorite Denver classics is the beautiful ballad, "Annie's Song".
Released as a single from his eighth studio album, "Annie's Song"
was written for Denver's wife at the time, Annie Martell Denver.
According to him, it was penned in about ten and a half minutes one day while
he was riding on a ski lift to the top of Aspen Mountain in Aspen, Colorado.
John seemed to capture the feeling he felt while surrounded by the beauty
of the snow-capped mountains, "filling up his senses" all around him.
This, and the love he felt for his wife inspired him.
"Initially it was a love song," recalled Annie Denver. And it was given to
me through him, and yet, for him, it became a bit like a prayer."
"You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply..."
"Rocky Mountain High" which is one of the two state songs of Colorado, came
under scrutiny after being released, when the FCC deemed, erroneously so, that
the phrase "...friends around the campfire and everybody's high"... promoted
the usage of drugs. As a result, certain radio stations refused to play the song.
John Denver publicly defended the song, claiming, "everybody's high"
was an innocent reference to the sense of peace that he
found within the Rocky Mountains.
In 1985, Denver testified before Congress in the Parents Music Resource
Center hearing about his experience: "This was obviously done by people
who have never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains and also have never
experienced the elation, celebration of life or the joy of living that one
feels when he observes something as wondrous as the Perseids meteor
shower on a moonless, cloudless night, when there are so many stars
that you have a shadow from the starlight and you are out camping
with your friends, your best friends, and introducing them to one
of nature's most spectacular light shows for the first time."
Cash Box agreed, claiming that the song, "sparkles with sincerity
and beautiful lyrical images."
I think most people listening to this lovely song will agree!
Thank you for your beautiful music, Mr. Denver!
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