I'm Not Ashamed to Admit This

I want the John Denver tribute album.
If you don't know, John Denver is awesome. I grew up in the late 70's early 80's and John Denver was popular. Some people apparently think he's too vanilla, but guess what? Vanilla is still the most popular ice cream flavor. So...

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Anyway, when I think of John Denver I remember being a kid. My sister and I would ride in the camper on back of the old black and white Ford when the family went camping. We'd be back there with our beagle, Pumpkin, and we'd crank the portable 8 track player. That's right. 8 track baby. We'd pop in John Denver's Greatest Hits and we'd sing at the top of our lungs. We loved that 8 track. How could you not? This song was one we'd take turns and then we'd harmonize. It was wonderful.

Neither of us had ever been to West Virginia, but we could see it when we sang.

I think John Denver captured what I always felt about being in the woods and away from the city. This song in particular just sends me to my happy place:

The serenity of this song still makes me immediately at peace.

Why John Denver? Well this weekend I heard a story on NPR. Dave Matthews, another of my favorites, participated in the tribute album project and NPR interviewed him. You can listen here. As I listened to the interview, I kept smiling and thinking back to all those memories. It's been years since I intentionally listened to a song of his, but I can still sing along-or cry along as is the case with this one:

Seriously, it makes me weep. It is so beautiful

He could also just make you happy. I can't tell you the number of times I danced around the living room to this song:

This just wants you to swing your partner round and round while you stomp your feet in rhythm to the beat.

How can you not respect a man who appears on The Muppets?

I can not even tell you how my little kindegarten self sqealed in delight when John Denver hosted.

I have so many fond memories of John Denver and his music. He and his music are part of my childhood and its happy innocence.  I love that even today I can sway to the lyrical melody or hoedown to the fiddle. At this point I really don't care if it's "cool" to like John Denver. Listen to the NPR interview to get that reference. I like him. I always have. His music matched the inspiration and joy I felt as a young person running through the forest and the wildflowers of Montana.  This song is about Colorado, but we have Rockies here, too.

How can you not just smile?