# Does EVERYONE know 'Country Roads'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 13, 2025, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317 "2025-05-13T02:46:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/61 "2025-05-13T17:19:56Z")
I’ve never been a fan of Google Translate and haven’t used it in years, though one must assume it has gotten better since then, but obviously it still doesn’t know nuances. “Dumm” means dumb or stupid, while “dümmlich” is a bit milder than “dumm”. You would say about an otherwise intelligent person “Er hat eine dümmliche Bemerkung gemacht”, “He made a dumb(ish) remark”, but in cases where there are no doubts, you’d say “Donald Trump ist dumm”, “DT is stupid”. Hope that clears that up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/62 "2025-05-13T17:36:28Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > You would say about an otherwise intelligent person “Er hat eine dümmliche Bemerkung gemacht”, “He made a dumb(ish) remark”, but in cases where there are no doubts, you’d say “Donald Trump ist dumm”, “DT is stupid”. Hope that clears that up. 😉 It does, thanks (and perfect example for illustrating ‘dumm’ 😄). I would have assumed that, of ‘dumm’ and ‘dümmliche’, the latter was the more pejorative of the two, with the extra syllable. I suppose perhaps it’s similar to the English suffix ‘ette’, meaning a smaller or lighter version, as ‘cigarette’ is to ‘cigar’. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/63 "2025-05-13T17:44:03Z")
I have admitted in other threads being an unabashed John Denver fan, and own (checks phone) two greatest hits albums and 5 different singles. Lots of early acculturation was a part, during long drives from southern NM to Colorado on family vacations, but I just like the music. It’s also one of my “no stress” music collections, since I can do a music stream of JD for a couple of hours and nothing in it will get me worked up though I’ll still be moved by several songs. I haven’t travelled the way a lot of posters have, but I will note that one of my friends in Canada was also a big fan, and my Israeli cousin (dual citizenship) is as well. And Country Roads does indeed seem to come to mind first for them. However, especially after legalization, there was a long period of time where everyone was semi-comedically stating that “Rocky Mountain High” should be Colorado state’s official song. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/64 "2025-05-13T18:12:44Z")
As much as I’m a fan of John Denver, I don’t think I know all the original lyrics for “Country Roads.” I’m more used to the [Israel Kamakawiwo’ole](https://youtu.be/FpJ879JiXCk) version with mostly new lyrics referencing Oahu. I’ve barely set foot on Oahu, though (Maui no ka 'oi), so I can’t say if it’s any better at local geography than the WV one is. And for posterity, “Leaving On a Jet Plane” is my favorite song. “Perhaps Love,” “Annie’s Song,” and “Aspenglow” are similar masterpieces. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/65 "2025-05-13T18:16:04Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > As much as I’m a fan of John Denver, I don’t think I know all the original lyrics for “Country Roads.” I’m more used to the [Israel Kamakawiwo’ole](https://youtu.be/FpJ879JiXCk) version with mostly new lyrics referencing Oahu. I’ve barely set foot on Oahu, though (Maui no ka 'oi), so I can’t say if it’s any better at local geography than the WV one is. > > And for posterity, “Leaving On a Jet Plane” is my favorite song. “Perhaps Love,” “Annie’s Song,” and “Aspenglow” are similar masterpieces.. Agree. I also enjoy “Sweet Surrender”. I remember laying on my mother’s living room the summer before college and the words just spoke volumes to me at the time. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/66 "2025-05-13T18:56:37Z")
_Rocky Mountain Hiiiiiigh_ Gocomics has, alas, put their Doonesbury archives behind a paywall, otherwise I’d link to one of the Doonesbury strips where John Denver is singing (usually that song!) down by the creek behind Uncle Duke’s house, which pisses Duke off, of course. My favorite is the one where oil tycoon Jim Andrews visits Duke, and on cue, Denver’s back there singing. Andrews, excitedly: “Isn’t that _John Denver_ down by your creek?” Duke: “You’ve got to understand, both my Dobermans are at the vet.” And of course “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” which was the Orioles’ 7th-inning stretch song for eons. And “Leaving on a Jet Plane” which I didn’t realize for years was his: the credit to it on the PP&M album named the writer as “Deutschendorf” which I only found out years later was Denver’s real surname. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/67 "2025-05-13T19:10:25Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > The shenandoah river is in VA, not WV > > Same with the Blue Ridge Mountains… You need a ‘mostly’ in there. Both the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River cut across the eastern tip of the WV panhandle near Harpers Ferry. But yeah, it is just this tiny bit of each that’s in WV. Other than that, they belong to Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/68 "2025-05-13T19:32:09Z")
I’ve heard the song covered in the Cavern Pub in Liverpool, UK with most of the audience singing along. The Cavern Pub is across the street from the Cavern Club. The club sticks to mostly Beatles and British Invasion stuff while the pub allows the musicians to cover a much wider variety of music ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/69 "2025-05-13T19:39:10Z")
I’ve heard a parody of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” called (IIRC) “Thank God I’m a City Boy” Unfortunately I can’t remember the singer or the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/70 "2025-05-13T19:47:12Z")
There’s a couple of videos of someone named Hopalong Andrew singing “Thank God I’m a City Boy” on YouTube, which I can’t understand the lyrics of. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/71 "2025-05-13T21:09:13Z")
I just heard this parody recently, after the recent death of Bob Rivers… [Thank God I’m an Ocean Bouy](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DFnKIhkJn7x0&ved=2ahUKEwjA2o-YraGNAxWqJTQIHQShMI8QtwJ6BAgQEAI&usg=AOvVaw2JGCb8GW8KFpWC5jPOv6nD) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/72 "2025-05-13T21:13:52Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What emerged after the War as what now is usually called “Volksmusik” is total trash inspired by cheap Schlager and pop music. “Real” German folk musicians who work in the old traditions (not spoiled by nationalism) make it a point to call that schlagerized music “volkstümliche Musik” instead of “Volksmusik” to differentiate it from the real thing. Poking around the etymologies it looks like “Volksmusik” is cognate to “folk’s music”. And “volkstümliche Musik” is cognate to “folk’s-dom-ly music”, where “-dom” is the same as in “kingdom” and “-ly” as in “quickly”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/73 "2025-05-13T21:16:14Z")
Of course, in American music, there’s also a deep divide between “country music” and “country music”. So far as I can tell, the only thing they have in common is that the performers wear broad-brimmed hats. And it really annoys me, because folk country is one of my favorite genres, and pop country is one of my least favorite. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/74 "2025-05-13T21:18:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, in American music, there’s also a deep divide between “country music” and “country music”. Yes, that’s a very good point, the divide between “Volksmusik” and “volkstümliche Musik” is the same as between, say, Hank Williams and Billy Ray Cyrus. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/75 "2025-05-14T02:14:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I was told they picked “West Virginia” for the meter. And that they started with some other state Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/76 "2025-05-14T02:22:21Z")
I’ve heard it sung by people all over the world. Everyone joins in. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/77 "2025-05-14T02:34:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Oh. Great! > > I’ll never get rid of this earworm…aaaccckkk! A lot of my recent earworms have been hymns that I haven’t heard for at least fifty years in real life. This one is a vast improvement. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/78 "2025-05-14T02:38:45Z")
There is also a Manchester United version “Take Me Home United Road” that fans sing before matches. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/79 "2025-05-14T02:40:48Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I would have assumed that, of ‘dumm’ and ‘dümmliche’, the latter was the more pejorative of the two, with the extra syllable. I suppose perhaps it’s similar to the English suffix ‘ette’, meaning a smaller or lighter version, as ‘cigarette’ is to ‘cigar’. “-like” or, as Einsteins Hund said, “-ish”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317/80 "2025-05-14T03:13:47Z")
_Americana_. There’s a group of musicians, many who’ve sang or played country, folk, pop at different times in their careers. They are promoting this(god, I hope it ain’t the record companies) style of melded/crossover music. Denver would’ve fit right in. So I look for Americana, most likely it will be a pretty good tune. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-country-roads/1018317.md?page=5)