# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/81 "2012-10-25T01:56:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s funny how things catch on. You might as well ask why an entire generation of Americans (and quite a lot of the rest of the world) went mad for a [pop song sung in Romanian](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqFWDElfmWA). > > (Don’t recognize it? Give the video about 45-50 seconds. You will. Oh yes you will.) Oh no I don’t. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/82 "2012-10-25T02:05:03Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Dear God, I have not laughed that hard in weeks. Thank you! Why? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/83 "2012-10-25T02:18:34Z")
It is also a big drinking song in Australia as well, along with leaving on a jet plane. Great songs we learnt at school and everybody can mumble along to the chorus. Then again even our national anthem is considered a drinking song here! ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/84 "2012-10-25T02:33:06Z")
With double forfeits if you don’t know what ‘Girt by sea’ means? Ours is a dirge, made slightly better by singing the [Maori words](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhCgcZ0efAA) first. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/85 "2012-10-25T21:13:04Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Only because Toots and the Maytals are awesome. It’s kind of hard to get a stadium full of soccer fans to sing [Pressure Drop](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rb13ksYO0s)though. You’ll find no argument with me against that… 🆒 I even did an emoticon… that’s probably my first one ever… ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/86 "2012-11-03T23:37:54Z")
> [@yohan\_go](#): > > Here is Slovenian karaoke version of Country Roads, if anyone is interested: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWeg1XKulj0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWeg1XKulj0) Nice, but don’t the lead vocals defeat the purpose of karaoke? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/87 "2012-11-04T03:39:41Z")
> [@NetTrekker](#): > > Nice, but don’t the lead vocals defeat the purpose of karaoke? > > 😕 Many karaoke tracks (at least on the “professional” discs) have the lead vocals on a separate track. It’s normally muted, but can be mixed in if the singer wants/needs a “guide” to help them. In that case, the karaoke DJ would just mix the lead in at a low level, but in the case of the posted link the poster elected to turn it up. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/88 "2012-11-04T06:38:45Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > (Don’t recognize it? Give the video about 45-50 seconds. You will. Oh yes you will.) Oh no, I didn’t. I guess I don’t watch enough TV or something. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/89 "2012-11-21T09:09:04Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The song has nothing to do with the actual state of West Virginia except for the fact that it mentions the state. Part of the Shenandoah Valley is in West Virginia, even if it is the eastern panhandle around Harpers Ferry. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/90 "2012-11-21T15:25:40Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > 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? Please tell me you knew that Minnie the Moocher is a famous old Cab Calloway song from the 30’s that he resurrected for The Blues Brothers movie. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/91 "2012-11-21T15:28:53Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Oh no I don’t. 😕 It only went to 72 on the top 100 in the USA. Hardly affecting a “generation” of Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/92 "2012-11-21T15:45:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Oh no I don’t. 😕 > [@squeegee](#): > > Oh no, I didn’t. I guess I don’t watch enough TV or something. > [@BwanaBob](#): > > It only went to 72 on the top 100 in the USA. Hardly affecting a “generation” of Americans. You all don’t watch enough [internet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Numa_(Video)). Presumably you have actual lives. > [@](#): > > _Numa Numa Dance_ is the second-most watched viral video of all time, with 700 million views, losing out only to “Star Wars kid”. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/93 "2012-11-21T15:53:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve read the “Sixteen Tons” is a popular song in Russia. > [@njtt](#): > > I don’t think that is particularly surprising. It is an American, anti-capitalist song. It makes perfect sense that the Soviet regime should have encouraged its popularity in Russia, and once something like that gets entrenched in popular culture, it can stick around long after the conditions that first fostered its popularity have changed. It makes perfect sense to me. It’s the perfect fit for the stereotypically melancholic Russian national character. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/94 "2021-12-31T15:42:01Z")
I was going to start a new thread, but this one was suggested when I started typing. _Take Me Home, Country Roads_ pops into my head from time to time. Why? Who knows? It always makes me wonder about its international popularity half a century after it came out. The two references that comes to mind are _Kingsman: The Golden Circle_ where it is ‘Merlin’s’ favourite song, and… I don’t know. I think it was Anthony Bourdain, but it might have been Andrew Zimmern. (I think Bourdain.) He’s in a car in an Asian country with about four other guys, and they start singing _Take Me Home, Country Roads_. He said something to the effect of ‘You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden a car in [Asian country] with a bunch of guys singing _Take Me Home, Country Roads_.’ Does anyone know what show that was from? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/95 "2021-12-31T16:44:20Z")
Since this got bumped, something from back then (what, almost a decade ago?) has bothered me… > [@njtt](#): > > Wasn’t it actually Olivia Newton-John who had the biggest hit with it, though? [shudder] This is just wrong, in _viele Möglichkeiten_ (many ways). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/96 "2021-12-31T17:00:20Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Indeed. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” features prominently in the Japanese animated movie _Whisper of the Heart._ I’ve heard it in other Japanese TV series or movies, too. Then there is this: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VYX1yccVoFc/hqdefault.jpg "Tôi sẽ tiếp tục đợi bạn ở đây") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYX1yccVoFc) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341/97 "2021-12-31T19:54:46Z")
And here I thought that this thread had been revived due to [this review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhc8PAI_vkc) of the song’s appeal to anyone feeling homesick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-at-oktoberfest-sing-john-denvers-take-me-home-country-roads/638341.md?page=4)