The appeal of "Country Roads" extends far beyond West Virginia or even the United States. We're revisiting an episode from this summer that examines the global popularity of the John Denver classic. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast Support Today, Explained by becoming a Vox Member today: http://www.vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the global appeal of 'Country Roads'?
Today explained Sean Rahm's firm. I went to see some live music in Edinburgh, Scotland late last year. And when I entered the venue, I was somehow surprised to see a seven-piece band full of dudes in kilts. Very literally Scottish, you guys. But then I was even more surprised by what they were playing. Everyone knows this super regionally specific slice of Americana John Denver dropped in 1971?
Then I was talking to my cousin in Sri Lanka and he said, Yeah man, everyone knows country roads. And I was like, do they? But then, the more I looked into it, the more I realized Cousin was right. The Germans know these roads. The Japanese. By the time I heard the French-Canadian country roads... I had to know how this happened.
We're bringing you an encore presentation of our investigation of our country roads on Today Explained.
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Today Explained, when you want to learn more about Take Me Home Country Roads, it helps to speak to Professor Sarah Morris.
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Chapter 2: How did 'Country Roads' become popular in Asia?
Jason Jung is a writer based in Brooklyn. A few years ago, he wrote about this song for The Atlantic on the occasion of its 50th birthday, specifically how the song got so big in Asia.
In 2009, there were two sociologists named Grant Blank and Heidi Rupke who published a paper on the musical preferences of Chinese college students. So they went to various classrooms throughout Western China, and this would have been the early 21st century. So if you think about American songs that were popular at the time, you're probably thinking...
I don't know, Kelly Clarkson had just won American Idol. Maybe you bought her debut album. Or if you're hip, maybe you like The Strokes or Britney Spears. But after asking these Chinese students what their favorite American song was, the answer was overwhelmingly Country Roads by John Denver.
And what they found was that a lot of students had learned the song while they were learning English in high school or in middle school. And Grant Blank and Heidi Ruppke concluded that this song was also a powerful cultural symbol for these students and were associated with their ideation of America.
But how did it get to be so popular in China? Seems like it was good ol' détente.
So for historical context, U.S.-China relations under Mao Zedong during the 50s through the 70s were essentially unilaterally hostile. The US was fighting the Cold War against the evil commies.
I'll say so that all American people can hear that the only enemy of peace in the world is communism.
And much of Mao's domestic policy was predicated on the idea that the US was this bad imperialist enemy. So it wasn't until after Mao's death in 1976 when his successor, Deng Xiaoping, ushered in a new era of political detente. And this shift culminated in 1979 when he became the first Chinese head of state to visit the US under President Jimmy Carter.
belongs to all Americans, people who are firmly dedicated to a world of friendship and peace. And Vice Premier Deng, on behalf of all Americans, I welcome you here to our house.
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