The 5 Best John Denver Songs That Aren't Take Me Home, Country Roads

John Denver was the quintessential singer-songwriter of the 1970s, and it's hard to overstate just how popular he was in that decade. He had a string of hits, massive record sales, and a long line of accolades. He was even named Colorado's poet laureate in 1974. Among all his music, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" became his signature tune that he'll be forever tied to (strangely, it's even become an Oktoberfest anthem in Germany). The song appeared on his breakthrough album "Poems, Prayers & Promises," which also includes the title song, which we feel is one of Denver's best for its beautiful narrative about the passage of time and taking satisfaction in simple pleasures.

This was admittedly a hard assignment with so many wonderful John Denver songs to choose from. Besides "Poems, Prayers & Promises," we've included a range of Denver's other music that encompasses his early folk output from the 1960s to 1970s hits like "Rocky Mountain High" and "Annie's Song" to his later country work in the 1980s. We feel these songs showcase various aspects of Denver's talents beyond "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which, while it is a great song, isn't the end-all and be-all of what he has to offer.

You may be more familiar with the Peter, Paul, and Mary version of "Leaving on a Jet Plane." After all, it was a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 in 1969, two years after they recorded it. It was never a hit for John Denver, who penned this tune early in his career in 1966 under the title "Babe, I Hate to Go." He later changed the title and included his version on his first album, 1969's "Rhymes and Reasons." Even so, Denver later included another version of the song on his "John Denver's Greatest Hits" album from 1973.

The song describes someone on the verge of leaving a lover to go on an unnamed journey. At least one source believed that the narrator is likely going off to war, which gives the song an even more melancholy feel because of the possibility he might die. There's a key difference between Denver's version and Peter, Paul, and Mary's, besides the fact that the latter is sung by Mary Travers, which changes the gender of the song's narrator. In Denver's version, he promises that "When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring," but in the Peter, Paul, and Mary version, Travers sings, "When I come back, I'll wear your wedding ring." These are two very different sentiments. Denver's version also hits differently with sparer production and a deeper sense of sadness.

"Poems, Prayers & Promises" opens John Denver's 1971 breakout album of the same name. And while the LP also contains two much better known and loved tunes — "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Sunshine On My Shoulders" — we feel "Poems, Prayers & Promises" deserves a place among Denver's all-time greats. Its introspective lyrics about the passage of time, the good times and bad, and the joy taken in friendship, nature, and love encapsulate ideas he continued to explore throughout his career.

Besides Denver's ringing acoustic guitar, the music includes a beautiful piano part and Denver's tenor, which is especially gorgeous on the chorus that begins with the song's title. The song is pensive but hopeful, with Denver musing about the future and what he'd like to do, including "dance across the mountains on the moon." The lyrics also seem prescient given Denver's untimely death in 1997 in an airplane crash and stand as an epitaph for the singer-songwriter.

John Denver wrote "Annie's Song" for his first wife, Annie Martell, whom he married in 1967. He wrote it on a ski lift in Colorado in 1973 after he and Martell had gone through a rough patch and worked things out. That day, exhilarated by a good ski run on an Aspen slope and floored by the beauty that surrounded him, Denver came up with this song that entwines the natural world and love into an unforgettable tune in only 10 minutes. When it was released in 1974, the tune became an international hit and a signature tune for the singer-songwriter.

"Annie's Song" appeared on Denver's 1974 album "Back Home Again," which included another beloved tune, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." Still, "Annie's Song" holds a special place in Denver's catalogue that remains a standard wedding song for its beautiful sentiment. Denver himself understood the importance of what he'd created that day on the mountain. "'Annie's Song' is a song for all lovers and, in its deepest sense, a prayer to the love in us all," he recalled in "John Denver: The Complete Lyrics." Unfortunately, he and Martell divorced in 1982.

"Rocky Mountain High" is about being reborn through nature. The song was very personal and took John Denver months to get right before recording it for his 1972 album of the same name, but it's also universal. It's a celebration of nature and its power to transform us. Denver wrote the song after moving to Aspen, Colorado, and witnessing the Perseid meteor shower while camping. He loved the state so much he changed his last name from Deutschendorf to Denver in honor of the state's capital.

The song also touches on another important aspect of the singer's life: Denver was a dedicated conservationist and philanthropist who co-founded the Windstar Foundation, an environmental nonprofit, among many related activities. The lyrics contain a verse that directly relates to his views on conservation and proves Denver was the ultimate idealist of the '70s: "Now his life is full of wonder, but his heart still knows some fear / Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend / Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more / More people, more scars upon the land."

"Rocky Mountain High," which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, helped make the album of the same name Denver's first Top 10 hit. In 1973, Colorado adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of two of its official state songs, marking just how important the song had become.

Although John Denver didn't pen "Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)," he made it his own and crossed deeply into country music territory with this song recorded in Nashville. "Some Days Are Diamonds," which appeared on Denver's 1981 album of the same name, was written by Deena Kaye Rose and produced by legendary country producer Larry Butler (best known for his work with Kenny Rogers). The song has a lush sound, with backup singers, strings, and a very country feel that separates it from much of his earlier work.

"Some Days Are Diamonds" is about trying to get over lost love and the ups and downs of this daily process. The message seems to be that we should enjoy the good days and learn to bear the bad ones. The song went to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot Country chart and proved Denver could still easily move between genres while staying true to his own aesthetic. "Some Days Are Diamonds" is just one of so many of his best tunes that aren't "Take Me Home, Country Roads."