JOHN DENVER - ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

JOHN DENVER

SONGWRITERS: JOHN DENVER & MIKE TAYLOR

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

LABEL: RCA RECORDS

GENRE: COUNTRY FOLK

YEAR: 1972

 

             Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s. Starting in the 1970s, he was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was one of America's best-selling performers, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".

       Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S by RIAA certification with estimated sales of more than 33 million units. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his disdain for city life, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", "Calypso", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".

         Denver appeared in several films and television specials during the 1970s and 1980s. He continued to record in the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues as well as lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress in protest against censorship in music. He lived in Aspen for much of his life where he was known for his love of Colorado. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007.

       An avid pilot, Denver died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting his recently purchased light plane.

        "Rocky Mountain High" is a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972, it went to No. 9 on the US Hot 100 in 1973. Denver told concert audiences in the mid-1970s that the song took him an unusually long nine months to write. On April 10, 2017, the song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500.000 digital downloads.

       Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

He was born in the summer of his 27th year

Coming home to a place he'd never been before

He left yesterday behind him

You might say he was born again

Might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains

His life was far away

On the road and hanging by a song

But the strings already broken

And he doesn't really care

It keeps changin' fast, and it don't last for long

It's a Colorado Rocky Mountain high

I've seen it raining fire in the sky

The shadows from the starlight are softer than a lullaby

Rocky Mountain high, in Colorado

Rocky Mountain high

 

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below

Saw everything as far as you can see

And they say that he got crazy once and that he

Tried to touch the Sun

And he lost a friend, but kept the memory

Now he walks in quiet solitude, the forest and the stream

Seeking grace in every step he takes

His sight is turned inside himself, to try and

Understand, the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

 

And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high

I've seen it raining fire in the sky

You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply

Rocky Mountain high, in Colorado

Rocky Mountain high

 

Now his life is full of wonder

But his heart still knows some fear

Of the simple things he can not comprehend

Why they try to tear the mountains down

To bring in a couple more

More people, more scars upon the land

 

It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain high

I've seen it raining fire in the sky

I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly

Rocky mountain high

It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain high

I've seen it raining fire in the sky

Friend around the camp fire and everybody's high

Rocky Mountain high, Rocky Mountain high

Rocky Mountain high

Rocky Mountain high.