I've been to two places where his line just fit: "..coming home to a place he'd never been before." You know, when you see a beautiful new place and you think "this is IT, i'm *home."* I also love his line "...he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly.." This is my favorite of his songs, by far.
I love that line about seeing an eagle fly. I thought of it when I got to see one. It is so majestic and felt like it touched my soul. Hoping you'll feel that richness someday if you haven't yet!
@@kimberly3131 Have you heard Bob Segar's song, "Roll Me Away" and watched the video? His talks about standing on the mountain not knowing which way to go, something like that, then says "just then i saw a young hawk flyin' and my soul began to rise.." i know that feeling too. (Its a great road trip song, btw). There's just something about seeing that kind of thing, maybe makes you feel free or something.
Vickie - Yes I have heard Roll Me Away buy it's been a long time. The first time was in the movie Mask. It always reminds of thinking that his soul was now free to soar. (the movie character, that is). Thanks for mentioning it. It's cool how song meanings touch us all in different ways at different times in our lives. It sure does bring back vivid memories of times past too. Loved a lot of John Denver and Bob Seeger songs. As John would have said they were "far out!".
He was concerned about the environment, too. He had a huge hit called Calypso, which honoured a boat owned by Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau tried to bring awareness to the environment. He learned and carried out a lot of research through scuba diving. Denver met him and was so impressed with him, he wrote Calypso and gave Cousteau all the proceeds of the song to keep his boat operating.
John Denver is a favorite of mine, my Dad and I would listen to him together all the time when I was young, singing along on long car rides in Vermont. I will always love John. His songs Calypso and The Eagle and the Hawk are my favorites. He will forever be missed.
I feel bad for those that dont cry when music is done right. It does not matter what kind of music it is Rock Pop Country .Music is the only thing i know that will put a smile on my face and a tear in my eye at the same time. Nothing but luck for ya man
The story, according to John's wife, Annie was this. John Denver had a good friend, a fellow musician, who died too young. The night of his funeral, his wife had his friends gather on their property on a lake shore in the Rocky Mountains where they sat around a fire telling their stories about him. In the early morning hours there was a meteor shower that stunned them all into silence, and they each drifted away from the fire, involved in their own thoughts. When they woke up late the next morning, they found that John had stayed awake and written this song about his friend and himself.
John Denver was amazing -- he was like his own genre of music. His ability to carry one to a place and make them long for it like it was their own memory was incredible.
John Denver has ALWAYS made me cry !!! The emotion in his voice and poetry in his lyrics is so amazing !!! I love the line "...I know I'd be a poor man if I never saw an Eagle 🦅 fly ....". ❤❤❤
There is something about true human vocal production that can never come from an autotuned vocal. I could only describe it as the voice of GOD. John was blessed with his talent & he shared that blessing with us.
It is a testament to a singer/songwriter when he can convey a message and stir a tiny percentage of the emotion he felt when he experienced the grandeur of the Colorado Rockies. The hard-hearted critics at the time of its release thought the only "High" could be drug-induced. John Denver was singing about such beauty that stirs the soul and inspired this song. It is a testament to the intellectual and emotional humility and honesty of JB to allow the viewers to experience your honest reaction to the song.
The way your face lit up with the first few lines was wonderful to see. You could put all his songs in a bag, close your eyes, & still have a 100% chance of picking a great one out. He sang about the simple joys of life with a voice full of love: Calypso, Grandma's Feather Bed, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, and of course (Take Me Home) Country Roads. You just cannot go wrong with John Denver's music.
I can not tell you how much that line means to me. I DO talk to God a lot. But one time when my heart was burdened and was concerned about a certain situation, I was stopped in my tracks when I heard His voice say to me “fear not, for I am with thee.” This was not in my head, I heard it as if He was walking with me. And I’m not one that goes around saying God speaks to me all the time. But this time He did. Other times I felt His answer in my heart. I hope you have a blessed day.
So clear, so passionate. So missed. There will never be a other John Denver. Think about this JB...he was loved and revered during the disco era as it swung to heavy metal. Not an easy time to sell this type of music. But John did it. Try and find one person to deny his music. Just ain't happening.
I love your reaction! John Denver very much was and still is an icon from the years when music was real. He couldn't hide his joy of life and he wrote and sang from his soul. When he died in the plane crash, it broke many hearts...but his music lives on.
There will never be another John Denver…I was privileged to be present at six of his concerts. His voice was as pure and beautiful in person as it is in a recording studio. No “airs” about him. What you see is what you get. I still miss him so much…
I'm approaching 70 years old and this song came out when I was 19. What I realize now is that it is about finding where we belong in this world, not an easy task for anyone. It makes me so emotional now.
This was the first "grownup" album I bought for myself when I was about 12 years old. Thought provoking, inspiring and soul stirring. Just the sort thing I needed transitioning into being a young man. I definitely credit his music as one of the influences that helped me find myself and the spiritual quality of Nature.
Hey, JB, you seem more at peace. The background you're doing your videos from - trees and water - seem to be settling your soul more. I"m so happy. You know you got a community here that wants you happy and content. And I think this song really speaks to your state of how you've been living.
His voice carries the sense of what life is supposed to feel like, what it would be like without the strife, pain, and darkness. Each song is a glimpse into a kinder, simpler world that lays on the other side of the canyons dug by our failed choices. He was a lighthouse on a shore we never seem to reach.
Oh my, has it really been half my lifetime? I miss him too, and am saddened by all the songs he never got to sing for us. Makes me want to treasure his recordings even more.
His music touched all of my life. I was born in WV. My younger brother passed at 36 and Country Roads was played at his funeral and scattering of his ashes in the Kanawa State Forrest, echoing in the hollar. I have lived most of my life in the Rockies of Colorado. Annie's Song fit to a T the way I felt about my wife...etc.
Born in Brooklyn NY, and yet in my teens, fell in love with this man's music. I think he had moments of epiphany that he was able to render into the universal language of music. He described the wonders of nature and how fortunate one is to have those moments when you get a glimpse into our undeniable part in the natural scheme of things. In the end, he was a flawed human being, as we all are. But he aspired to brighter and bigger things. I miss him.
His music is like water to the desert of our hearts. That’s where the tears come from. We need the beauty and positivity. Thanks for your appreciation.
John has a really soothing voice.Whenever you are stressed,play a John Denver song,and you will feel better in a matter of minutes.John was a champion for nature and the environment. He had his pilot's license,and unfortunately his plane went down, and let to his death while he was in his prime.🏞
Yes, I usually cry when I hear John Denver. He really touches hearts. Oh and as others have said, I am enjoying the background with the lake and trees. You look good. You have a gentle and handsome face. Best wishes always.
I was 14 in 1972. I heard john Denver on my friends pocket radio, and I was hooked. All I could think about was going to America to see and hear him sing, but we were way too poor for that. The best my friend and I could do was to listen to that little pocket radio and dream. Then life happened, work, children, married life filled my time up and the years went rolling by. Fast forward to the 80’s and 90’s cd collections, of course John Denver was amongst them and I swear that grabbing an hour listening to his songs was pure therapy. I got to the US, but sadly by then John was gone. How different my life is now to that fourteen year old girl who shared her best friends pocket radio….a quiet life in the country and listening to John’s Annie’s song as I sit in the garden on a still summer evening with my darling husband, my sentiments and love for him are echoed in this song so well…..and I realise just how blessed I am.
If you really want to feel emotional and have goosebumps on your arms then you must give a listen to “The Eagle and the Hawk” by John Denver. Absolutely amazing song and gets me each and every time. I was fortunate to have met John on a golf course a couple years before his death. Told him how much his music meant to me. He shook my hand and said how much it meant to him that someone my age (I was about 28 at the time) enjoyed his music. Still heartbroken with his death. He had such an incredible voice!!
John loved the beauty and serenity of the natural world. Especially the mountains. He cared deeply about mankind’s effect on the earth and the animal kingdom. If you want peace....get away from the frenetic city and sleep under a tree. Truly. RIP John. We miss you.
John began this song while on a camping trip in the Rockies in August of 1970. He stepped out of the tent late one evening while everyone was sleeping and saw the Perseid meteor shower which is a yearly event in August - but seen much better in such locations where there aren't any city lights. So, when he sings "I've seen it rain and fire in the sky" - that is what he's talking about. The song NEVER gets old - I must have heard it well over 5,000 times in the last 50 years and it sounds just as fresh now as it did when I first heard it.
John Denver was a singer-songwriter & actor. He had so many great hits in the 70's-80's. Some of his signature songs were "Annie's Song (You Fill Up My Senses)", "Grandma's Feather Bed", "Fly Away", "Leaving On A Jet Plane", "Poems, Prayers & Promises", "Thank God I'm A Country Boy", "Calypso", "Sunshine On My Shoulders" etc. John appeared in several films & television specials during the 70's-80's, including the 1977 hit "Oh, God!", in which he starred alongside George Burns.
"I've seen it raining fire in the sky"... referring to the meteor shower he watched when writing this song. RIP John Denver - you were LEGENDARY!! 💖🌄 PLEASE do "Sunshine On My Shoulders" soon. ☀✌🏽
I've been a JD fan for 50 years, and watching you discover him really touches my heart. I encourage you to find the more "recent" videos of his mature voice. If you think his voice was beautiful in 1972, you should hear it in the 1990s. Thanks for this!
I love that you TOTALLY get his music. The beauty. The profoundness of it. My fave line is…You know you’d be a poorer man if you never saw an eagle fly. So very true. Rocky Mountain High, indeed. 🌏✌️💙🇺🇸
His passing was so very sad. He was very good friends with Jim Henson who made the muppets. Both of these were very proactive in conservation of nature, teaching from the very young to the elderly about our precious planet and our duty to take care of it. Love it that you love this.
I first this when it was released in 1972. I was 11. This song still makes me emotional, partly because the song is amazing, and partly because I still miss him.
I know what he's singing about. In August of 2017 after journeying to Nebraska for the total eclipse of the sun, I then went to Colorado. I drove into the mountains alone and and it's like a mystical experience. Something I will never forget ever. He died doing something he loved which is not a bad way to go personally. Be safe man
John Denver is my most favorite artist of all time! He has such a way of music, his voice, and the songs (whether he has written them or not)! Not many like him! If you want a song to make you cry? "Sunshine On My Shoulders" and it even has the line 'sunshine in my eyes can make me cry...' My favorite song is "Poems, Prayers, and Promises" and "Follow Me" is another favorite of mine! But watch the video of John singing "This Old Guitar" from his tv show with him explaining his guitar he got from his grandmother! Such an amazing artist!
What a beautiful thing to watch as someone genuinely appreciates the beauty of an amazing song. John Denver was what music should be about. Glad to know good folks are still discovering his amazing talent. Bless you for your pure emotional reaction!
This singer, and maybe even this song, sent an entire generation of us back into the woods and up onto the mountains. He was popular in the early 1970s, when the whole culture started to embrace wildness and simplicity. Some of us are still out there.
Great inspiring song. Makes you high on nature . That boomer generation really fought for the environment and got out in nature and lived life! No social media. Lol
JB, your reaction was so real, sincere and appreciation for lyrics that paint a mural, and a voice that supplies all the colors.... The Rockies do take your breath away.. the night sky black filled with sparkling stars seem close enough to reach up and scoop them into your hands.... The crunch of pine needles, the scent of fresh aspen, spruce and evergreen pine trees towering around you fill your senses with their sweet, fresh scent. Sitting by yourself on an outcropping of rocks, gazing below and out you see vast lush meadow filled with wildflowers, elk grazing among the tall grass peacefully... You gaze up to the sky, a blue so beautiful filled with clouds bright white... You take a deep breath and feel like you can reach up and touch the face of God... You must put a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park on your bucket list. Like the amazing voice of John, you will also fall in love with the mountains so he loved. PEACE &🙏🏻🙏🏻🤗🤗
I've been listening to this song for over 40 years. I'm not even American but it gives me goosebumps every time. John Denver is a legend. Listen to For You, it will make you weep with its beauty.
YES! YES! YES! You got it!!! John was a great communicator and he obviously got through to you! Thank you for playing one of my favourite JD songs and understanding what our John was all about. (by the way, seeing you emotional made me cry too!)
For those of us that grew up in the 1970's, none of us realized what a magical time it was for music. Whether you were into John Denver, Classic Rock, or Pop, there was no other period quite like the 1970's. No music was computer generated. It was pure talent. John Denver was a style that was completely unique. I lived in Colorado as a kid when all his music came out. His music gave me a much greater appreciation for the beauty of the place I called home and gave me a respect for the land and environment in Colorado. During that period I listened to John Denver at least an hour or two every day. Every album he put out was so amazing! I still have all my original John Denver albums from this era. I only heard John Denver live one time after I became an adult and he was backed by the San Diego Orchestra at an outdoor concert on San Diego Bay in the 1990's. It was an amazing night. BTW, I have returned many times to Colorado and I cannot visit Aspen or the surrounding communities without having John Denver playing on my car's stereo. Now all my kids are huge John Denver fans too from those trips to Aspen. Thanks for your review. I really enjoyed it.
I grew up in NYC and when I was a kid I always dreamt of leaving that concrete jungle. I would go up to the wooded park a few miles from my house and dream that I was away in the wilderness. I would also take our radio from our kitchen and in the summer Id listen to John Denver in my back yard and dream about the places he sang about. About the same time my mom got sick with cancer and she passed at 39 yrs old, I was jus about to turn 13 and had no idea my life was about to become confusing and change forever. I continued to lean on Johns music and it helped me get by and I still tear up today when I hear his music today. I ended moving myself and my family to Colorado 24 years ago, at 36 or so and my life again had changed but it was for the better. I ended up building new homes and flipping older homes and was pretty successful for awhile. A friend, who was a part of John Denvers Windstar foundation, who I had no idea she was a part of, knew I was building homes and had contacted me to ask if I can duplicate a custom styled bench in memory to Erma, Johns Mom, who had recently passed away and have it permanently affixed in front of Johns Bronze statue of him holding his guitar and an Eagle, at the entry to Windstar foundation. I absolutely jumped at the opportunity to do so and I worked with my best finish carpenter to complete this. We did it because we were honored to do so, me more than most anyone, and although we couldn't be there for its presentation, I did get a call from Johns brother, Ron thanking me for helping get this done. Unbeknownst this took me full circle and I was honored to speak with Ron, Johns brother. Since then Ive become friendly with a cousin of John's and we shared a few great stories of how I was greatly affected by him and his great music and messages, from someone he never knew still today and Ed has shared a few with me also. I told Ed that John Denver was the Best friend I never had and that I enjoy sharing how I was affected by this great person !!!!! I am 60 years old and still live in Colorado, mostly because of John and his music !!!
This came out while I was in Viet-nam. I'm from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina and this song made me so home sick, it's been 52 years and I cried when he died. clp
James your reaction brought tears to my eyes. Yoy should listen to Annies Song written for his ex wife. How she fillled him physically and spiritually. The music and lyrics are beyond any love song.
Wow... maybe the most sincere reaction I've ever seen on a reaction video. The power of music never fails to blow me away. Thanks so much for sharing this special experience with us all.
So many great lines in this song. My 2 favorite are: "Talked to God and listened to the casual reply . . ." and "You know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly . . . " The whole song is a poem, really, and deeply autobiographical for John, who cherished the Earth.. I was 9 when this song came out and 10 when it became a huge hit in early '73--HUGE. I've heard this song at least a couple thousand times in my life (so far) and I got tears in my eyes watching your reaction. I love watching younger folks discover the really beautiful music I grew up on in the 70s. You have a really expressive face--wonderful reaction. Yours is my favorite of every reaction I've seen of this song. Nicely done! Just discovered you, just subbed. : )
If you haven’t heard John Denver & Placido Domingo’s duet of Perhaps Love, check it out. It’s probably my favorite duet EVER. There are also RU-vid videos of it. :)
Gone way too soon. He had so many great songs. I like a sunshine on my Shoulder and Thank God I’m a Country Boy. John Denver, James z Taylor and Carly Simon are my favorite folk artists.
When I was a teenager, I climbed Long's Peak, 14,000 plus feet above the mile high Denver. The feeling you get being so high and looking out over the vast plains to the east, and the Rockies to your left and right is something you just can't explain, though you can get a feel for it in this song.
Love what you said about the Song JB. His voice gives you love and hope and LIFE!!!!!! He left us way way way too soon. Bring more of his songs hun. Take care yourself hun. Enjoy your show.
Yes I agree John Denver was one of a kind Very Special and taken from us so unexpectedly, I will never forget that day, in an antique store in Moro Bay , Ca and the owner had the radio on and a special report came in, as she turned the radio up EVERYONE stopped talking, shopping and moving . . as the report confirmed he was dead, crashed his plane, not a dry eye in the shop. . . Thano you John for all you left us
John Denver did a song that a lot of people overlook. At that time, the bald eagle and others, were on the endangered species list. He wrote the most amazing song. There's an incredible video of that song, and it's also a memorial to John Denver. Look for that one, JB. The eagles are no longer on the endangered species list, but that video might be my all-time favorite video. The name of the song is "The Eagle and the Hawk." btw, you look like you're in a beautiful place. God bless you young man.
