If you take a look beyond the big hits, you will quickly lose any pre-conceived notions about John Denver. Sure, he’s the all-American boy with songs dripping in sunshine, but he’s not immune to the blues and every so often he will let that lonesome balladeer take the wheel.
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Though Denver will surely always be known for the anthemic “Take Me Home, Country Roads” or the syrupy sweet “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” below we’re going through five songs that aren’t as well known, yet every bit as good.
1. “Friends With You” (From Aerie, 1971)
From Denver’s fifth studio album comes this whistful reflection. In the verses, Denver explores the gift of growing old and all the experiences that come with it. The verses are weighed down by a minor melody before the chorus erupts into a buoyant major chord. A crowd of voices then join Denver in singing Friends I will remember you, think of you / Pray for you / And when another day is through / I’ll still be friends with you.
2. “Mother Nature’s Son” (From Rocky Mountain High, 1972)
Though this song was originally recorded by the Beatles for their eponymous “White Album,” it seems to be tailored-made for Denver.
Denver’s songs often evoke a deep reverence for the earth. From “Rocky Mountain High” to “Sunshine on My Shoulders” no one paints as clear a portrait of mother nature as Denver. So it’s apt that this song talks of being raised in fields of grass and beside mountain streams.
3. “The Cowboy and the Lady” (From Some Days Are Diamonds, 1981)
In “The Cowboy and the Lady” Denver plays the odd couple with the grandest lady he’s ever seen. While he is donning his rhinestone-studded suit and his cowboy hat and boots, she’s wearing a fancy feathered hat while waiting for her plane to take off.
I was Mogen David wine / she was Chabls Fifty-nine, he sings. But there we sat, the cowboy and the lady / She was evenings at the opera and summers in Paree / I was Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, Tennessee.
4. “Matthew” (From Back Home Again, 1974)
One of Denver’s most affecting songs—and one that indicates a real belief in the idea of being a good person and living life the right way—is “Matthew.” Loosely based on the short life of his uncle, the song forgoes total accuracy for the sake of creating a touching ode to a genuine person.
During the live Wildlife Concert in 1998, he introduced the song by saying, “This song was written about my Uncle Dean. Dean was the second-youngest of my dad’s brothers; there were nine boys and two girls—eleven children in that family. Dean and I worked on wheat harvests a couple of summers together. We were very, very close. He was a great inspiration to me. He was killed right around his 21st birthday in a car accident. I thought about him and the things he inspired in me, about life on the old Deutschendorf family farm that my father was raised on, and all that meant to me, and out of it came this song.”
5. “All of My Memories” (From Aerie, 1971)
In “All of My Memories,” Denver longs for home while out on the road. Amid a never-ending cycle of hotel rooms and long, endless highways, Denver dreams of more pastoral settings—the only place that seems fitting for the singer to be.
He sings: Somewhere in the shade near the sound of a sweet singin’ river / Somewhere in the sun / where the mountains make love to the sky / Somewhere to build me a faith, a farm, and a family / Somewhere to grow older, and somewhere a reason to try.
Photo: The John Denver Estate / Sacks & Co
