The No. 1 Song On July 29, 1974 Sounds Even Sweeter Today

Characterized by lackluster tunes and cheesy soft rock, 1974 flopped harder than any other year in classic rock history, but there remained some bright spots. On July 29, 1974, earnest folk-country balladeer John Denver was enjoying his first of two weeks at the No. 1 spot on the pop chart with the timeless and tender love ballad "Annie's Song." 

Denver was one of the most commercially dominant and culturally defining musicians of the 1970s, topping the charts with four singles, including "Annie's Song," one of the all-time best Denver songs apart from "Take Me Home, Country Roads." While his songs were almost populist anthems for the world, always packed with emotion and delivered with simple acoustic instruments and Denver's crystal-clear voice, "Annie's Song" was written and recorded for just one person. Nevertheless, huge swaths of the population derived meaning and pleasure from the song, enough to earn Denver a gold record and to take it to No. 1 in July 1974. Here's the story behind John Denver's sweet smash "Annie's Song."

While the titular subject of "Annie's Song" is never directly divulged in the lyrics, the piece was composed by John Denver with one particular Annie in mind. In 1967, he married the former Ann Martell, and their relationship was stable until Denver became a superstar. During a rocky patch in the marriage, which suffered under the weight of Denver's career, the couple went from not speaking to unofficially separated for about a week. During his time away from his wife, the troubled Denver wrote "Annie's Song" and got in touch with his true feelings. The emotion expressed is raw and clear, with the lyrics bursting out of Denver's brain almost fully-formed, as he completed the song in about 10 minutes while he sat on a ski area's chair lift.

In the lyrics to "Annie's Song," Denver compares Martell favorably to mountains in spring, walks in the rain, and forest nights before asking if they can resume their relationship and capture the lost magic. "Come let me love you, come love me again," he croons. It's a nearly perfect John Denver song that time shouldn't forget, a No. 1 hit as of July 1974, and a popular wedding song choice in the 1970s. But "Annie's Song" couldn't save the marriage that inspired it. Denver and Martell divorced in 1983 after 16 years of marriage.