5 John Denver Songs That Capture The Free Spirit Of A Cross-Country Road Trip

There are few artists with music as fitting for the open road as John Denver. With a cross-country trip before you — the wide fields and tall mountains of the American landscape ahead — Denver's free-spirited music is the perfect soundtrack. And these five songs best bring alive the beauty of everything you'll speed by on the road. Denver's music kept this Americana, country, and folk style throughout his lengthy career — most of his hits came during the 1970s, specifically from 1969 to 1975, when the songs of this list were released.

The perfect road trip music is nostalgic in nature but also uplifting despite any heavier emotions. These tunes always capture that simple feeling of looking out the window into a great known or unknown land. Denver's lyrics bring out the joys and other feelings of the road, as much of his music embodies the traditional wanderer. Yet it's his reedy voice that really drives this message home — it's the perfect sonic paintbrush to the span of the Americas. In this list, we'll look back through the heights of John Denver's career to five songs that best embody the free spirit of a road trip, from the obvious hits to the lesser-known gems.

The most obvious choice is also the most correct one in this instance, as John Denver's most iconic hit was simply made with the feeling of the free spirit of the road. Released in 1971 as a single and included on the album "Poems, Prayers and Promises," "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was a huge success, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart. It's a cross-country road trip staple for many reasons, first being its blissful, serenading leading melody that is as peaceful as anything Denver recorded.

The song's imagery also captures that feeling of the American expanse like no other, with Denver's lyrics feeling as though the car is speeding past all the sights as he lists and reminisces on them: "Almost Heaven, West Virginia / Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River / Life is old there, older than the trees / Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze." "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a tranquil masterpiece that features Denver's most nostalgic songwriting, as well as that anthemic chorus that almost every person knows. It's a song that brings people together, and whether you're hearing it in a packed, full stadium or a car in the middle of nowhere, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" will always be worth singing along to.

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" is well known as one of the official songs of a U.S. state, West Virginia — as well as the official anthem of Germany's Oktoberfest — but John Denver actually has a second track that's a state's official song, with this entry representing Colorado. This kind of physical effect from the music is further proof that Denver's voice is one of the premier soundtracks of the American landscape, and "Rocky Mountain High" is no different. Released in 1972 alongside an album of the same name, this song captures the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains. It charted well upon release, reaching the top 10 on the singles chart.

"Rocky Mountain High" has a therapeutic country folk sound that's led by deep and bright acoustic guitars and Denver's iconic tenor. The song's imagery brings the whole picture together, with Denver's narrative storytelling blending with gorgeous descriptors of the landscape: "And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high / I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky / The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby / Rocky Mountain high (Colorado)." It's a sentimental and awe-striking ode to one of America's most stunning destinations, and "Rocky Mountain High" feels just like trekking through the pretty scenery on your way to some far-off destination.

One of Denver's earlier hits, "Leaving on a Jet Plane" was released in 1969 and was most famous for being covered by Peter, Paul and Mary, whose rendition reached No. 1 on the US singles chart. This tune was re-recorded in 1973, though, for "John Denver's Greatest Hits." It's among his best work as a songwriter, and though it's not a direct ode to the beauty of a landscape, it uses the bittersweet feeling of leaving for a long trip to great success.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" has the essential adventuring spirit that much of Denver's music utilizes: The undying freedom that represents much of his idealist sentiments of the era. It also has a touching, romantic lyric — "So kiss me and smile for me / Tell me that you'll wait for me / Hold me like you'll never let me go / 'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane / Don't know when I'll be back again / Oh babe, I hate to go" — that grounds the free spirit with its moving emotions.

"Annie's Song" blends the free spirited, traveling version of Denver with a romantic one — the song uses the imagery of the world and his love for it to quantify the love in his relationship. "Annie's Song" is one of Denver's four No. 1 hits, spending two weeks at the top spot during the summer of '74, and it's a brilliant and straightforward love ballad. It's a traditional sounding tune, and Denver's tenor shines in front of the light acoustics and gorgeous strings that build throughout the song.

Lyrically, the imagery is strong: "You fill up my senses, like a night in a forest / Like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain / Like a storm in the desert, like a sleepy blue ocean / You fill up my senses, come fill me again." But it's all brought together by the tender melodies, which bring forth a palpable romanticism that a road trip can bring out of us — a great feeling of wonder at the wide open, beautiful spaces we pass by.

This final entry is a relatively well-known song but certainly underrated compared to some of the hits that precede it. It's also the perfect song to bring an end to a long-spanning adventure on the road. Released in 1974, arguably the very best year of John Denver's career, "Back Home Again" is the title track of his '74 album, which also featured "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "Annie's Song." The song was a top 5 hit in 1974, one of six in Denver's career, and fans of the time certainly gravitated toward its gentle, nostalgic message.

"Back Home Again" is an appropriate finale to a road trip for its obvious titular reasons, but it's the imagery within that makes the song feel like a stretch and relax into the end of the cross-country trip: "He's an hour away from riding on your prayers up in the sky / And ten days on the road are barely gone / There's a fire softly burning, supper's on the stove / It's the light in your eyes that makes him warm." Though the road trip may be over, "Back Home Again" and the rest of the songs on this list remind us that the free spirit of being among vast countrysides, mountains, rivers, and more remains undying.