John Denver, I Heart You

So I am not truly unemployed - I work as a busser/"waiter's assistant" Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning. This is a really odd work schedule, to say the least. It's kind of like a negative image of everyone else's schedule. Anyway, it's really hard work. Lots of lifting and running around, and when I get home, I just want to veg out and relax. Today I got home and collapsed in front of the television. After flipping through endless sports games, I found A Song's Best Friend: John Denver Remembered on PBS.

This isn't really a dirty little secret, but it feels like one, for an unabashed lover of rock and punk. Here it is: I've always really liked John Denver. My mom had one of his tapes and would play it in the car when we were little - that's the only logical explanation I can come up with. Regardless, both "Leaving On a Jet Plane" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" always give me shivers. Country Roads usually also brings tears to my eyes - I think because we would drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains (in West Virginia!) to go from Kentucky to my visit my mom's college roommate in Roanoke, VA. I could identify with those lyrics. Shit, the Shenandoah River. I also know I really love a song if I don't like its covers more (which is usually the case). Here is a sweet duet of John Denver and Johnny Cash singing Take Me Home, Country Roads. It's pretty awesome, but nothing near the original. And if Johnny Cash doesn't improve your song (see here), then I don't know what can.

One person I always associated with John Denver is Lou Reed. I know that they are actually quite different, but my first exposure to Reed was Transformer, which I think has a similar singer-songwriter vibe. Or maybe it's just two similarly-aged white men doing solo albums. Another is John Lennon, but I think that might just be the fact that they both wore glasses and had similar haircuts. If you have any John Denver-related connections or experiences, please share! I know I'm not the only one with an irrational love.