The lyric from “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is “West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home.” John Denver’s recording turned the song into an enduring country and folk standard and a powerful symbol of West Virginia.
Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert began writing the song, and John Denver helped complete it after hearing an early version. Despite its strong association with West Virginia, the title was partly inspired by country roads in Maryland and by Danoff’s memories of growing up in western New England.
Denver recorded the song in New York in January 1971, and the single was released on April 12 that year. It reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of Denver’s signature hits.
The song’s cultural status grew far beyond the charts. In 2014, West Virginia adopted it as one of four official state anthems. Denver’s recording entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and the National Recording Registry in 2023. The canonical completion is “home,” not “back” or “there.”