# Why do Germans at Oktoberfest sing John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341 "2012-10-20T18:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/1 "2012-10-20T18:12:19Z")
I am assured by my girlfriend that this song is always, always sung at Oktoberfest and that everyone stops and links arms and sways and belts it out (at least the chorus) so that it’s not only a popular song at Oktoberfest but possibly the most popular anthem sung there. [YouTube](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDQQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPrbRP4DN6cI&ei=1-eCULy6BYXU0gHNoIDwDw&usg=AFQjCNGjl2HjkBByhV_q7Gg-_I2YzbZd5A) [YouTube2](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9bEsf6J5ztg&ei=1-eCULy6BYXU0gHNoIDwDw&usg=AFQjCNHIdrvMkzLmBHTCK3s7Bj9TXrY_hQ) [YouTube3](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CD4QtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-rB1U5plFoA&ei=1-eCULy6BYXU0gHNoIDwDw&usg=AFQjCNEdqV5n6b2V9_h7mBe1Mj5nZ9guUg) [YouTube4](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CEMQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQtV59LHGOWg&ei=1-eCULy6BYXU0gHNoIDwDw&usg=AFQjCNHjbJCemiigbtdu_fkzhHI9CmTnOA) Is there some specific historical reason _WHY_? It doesn’t seem to be associated with a general reverence for John Denver songs or West Virginiana or a teutonic love for mountain mamas or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/2 "2012-10-20T18:24:45Z")
There is a whole lot of beer drinkin’ at Oktoberfest. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/3 "2012-10-20T18:28:34Z")
Because John Denver’s birth name was Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.? (Probably not the real reason, but that sounds like a good German surname. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/4 "2012-10-20T18:33:03Z")
It’s a song they can count on a bunch of drunks all knowing the words to? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nomdenet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@nomdenet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nomdenet)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/5 "2012-10-20T18:34:10Z")
If you ever stay at a holiday resort that is frequented by Germans, you will know not to overestimate German taste in music. Somehow this same country also produced Bach, Brahms, and Wagner. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/6 "2012-10-20T18:51:08Z")
Sometimes a song will catch on with a foreign audience. I’ve read the “Sixteen Tons” is a popular song in Russia. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/7 "2012-10-20T19:08:17Z")
They also love Amerikan Bie. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/8 "2012-10-20T19:09:39Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/9 "2012-10-20T19:10:58Z")
We also had an awful dance beat cover version in Germany that really cemented the song in the minds of the crowd that you would typically find at Oktoberfest. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/10 "2012-10-20T19:16:50Z")
It’s a song that is easy to manage the basics of when enormously drunk. I’ve been at a few weddings in Scotland where that song has been played - and sung along to - at the end of the night. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/11 "2012-10-20T19:51:22Z")
Because they can’t be arsed to learn an entire evening’s worth of German drinking songs. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/12 "2012-10-20T20:14:01Z")
I’ve heard it’s a very popular song in many languages, like Chinese, for instance. The idea of going back to your hometown is kind of universal, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/13 "2012-10-20T20:34:56Z")
Do they substitute some appropriately low-key mountainous region of Germany for “West Virginia” in the song? Let’s see…“Emmendingen” would work the meter, and it’s a district in the hilly Black Forest… ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/14 "2012-10-20T20:37:34Z")
I believe it’s big in Japan too… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/15 "2012-10-20T22:07:24Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve heard it’s a very popular song in many languages, like Chinese, for instance. The idea of going back to your hometown is kind of universal, I guess. A former coworker of mine is from West Virginia, and she once told me that when she visited China she expected that no one she met there would have any idea where that was. To her surprise, the first time she mentioned it her new acquaintance said “Oh, ‘Take Me Home, Country Road’!” and everyone present started singing the song. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/16 "2012-10-20T22:39:48Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Because they can’t be arsed to learn an entire evening’s worth of German drinking songs. You couldn’t be more wrong. It turns out that every song ever written is a German drinking song. I went to the Hofbrauhaus in Las Vegas and the band was playing songs from _The Blues Brothers_. _Minnie the Moocher_ is a German drinking song. I’ve even been to the Oktoberfest once. I found out that _La Bamba_ is a German drinking song. Eh, who knew? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/17 "2012-10-20T22:52:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sometimes a song will catch on with a foreign audience. > > I’ve read the “Sixteen Tons” is a popular song in Russia. [Frighteningly so](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI9KBLb_8ro&feature=player_embedded#!). > **[4 Types of Music That Are Bizarrely Popular Overseas](https://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/4-types-music-that-are-bizarrely-popular-overseas)** > > You can never REALLY be sure what's going to resonate with people. We know that to be true, because we absolutely refuse to believe anybody saw these hits coming ... ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/18 "2012-10-20T23:04:51Z")
Wow. I was at the Haufbrau Haus in Munich shortly after John Denver died and the band played Country Roads. At the time we thought it was a little random but nice for them to acknowledge his passing but I had no idea it was a tradition! ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/19 "2012-10-20T23:22:20Z")
The soccer/football chant “Ole, Ole, Ole” which started in Spain in 1982, has expanded around the world and can be heard at Montreal Canadien hockey games. or could, if the NHL wasn’t having yet another contract dispute/lockout. I always appreciated John Denver testifying against the PMRC along with Frank Zappa and Dee Snider but would never think of listening to, let alone buying on of his albums. But let’s face it, “TMHCR” is a catchy, singable tune, especially if you are three sheets to the wind. Better to have the Germans sing this instead of “Horst Wessel Lied”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/20 "2012-10-20T23:26:09Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > But let’s face it, “TMHCR” is a catchy, singable tune, especially if you are three sheets to the wind. Better to have the Germans sing this instead of “Horst Wessel Lied”. I can provide personal anecdotal evidence that this isn’t true. My pissed is my cite 🙂 But yeah, better than Horst “Nuclear” Wessel as a drinking song. But much, much, worse than Piano Man. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341.md?page=2)