It Took John Denver Just 10 Minutes on a Ski Lift To Write “Annie’s Song”

The masses primarily know John Denver for one song and one song only, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. It is a great song with a catchy chorus, an enticing hook, and memorable lyrics. Consequently, it has stayed relevant ever since its 1971 release. However, this song has done Denver’s legacy a bit of a disservice, as it has overshadowed the rest of his phenomenal catalog.

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John Denver was an acoustic artist who fell into the categories of pop, country, folk, and rock. In essence, he was just a great performer and singer. That being so, some other classics that helped define his career include “Leaving On A Jet Plane”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Sunshine On My Shoulders”, and his beautifully melancholic single, “Annie’s Song”.

Released in 1974, John Denver’s single peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Matter of fact, that is one spot better than his most famous single, as that peaked at No. 2. Regardless, Denver’s sentimental song was written in just 10 minutes amid the wreckage of his separation from Annie Martell, and in the beauty of the snow-covered Rocky Mountains.

How Beauty & Pain Came Together for John Denver

Around 1974, John Denver and Annie Martell’s marriage was on the brink of ending, as the two had separated for some time. Alone, and trying to make sense of it all, Denver did what he often did—seek emotional refuge in the outdoors. So, on one arbitrary day, Denver decided to go skiing in Aspen, Colorado. While on the ski lift preparing for his run down the mountain, the inspiration for the song hit him.

In his autobiography, Take Me Home: An Autobiography, Denver wrote, “Suddenly, I’m hypersensitive to how beautiful everything is. All of these things filled up my senses, and when I said this to myself unbidden images came one after the other. All of the pictures merged and I was left with Annie. That song was the embodiment of the love I felt at that time.”

Per Denver’s remark, it seems the experience that inspired the song was the perfect culmination of beauty and pain. And how amid the beauty and pain, the purest of truths prevailed. While this is a story that mirrors the ones watched and read about in fiction, Denver and Martell did not have a storybook ending. Unfortunately, in 1982, Denver and Martell divorced each other after 15 years of marriage.

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns