The Remix: John Denver
By Jared Smith
Fall is just around the corner. Soon, we’ll be picking pumpkins, baking pies, and taking long drives down the beautiful yellow-red forest highways. The changing seasons are both exciting and poetic.
When most of us hear the name John Denver, we probably think of our parents or grandparents. Personally, I didn’t get into his music until the summer of 2020 when I was working at a wilderness therapy program in Arizona. During my job training in the Tonto National Forest, I met my co-worker Cayden. Cayden is a poet; he writes about nature and the human experience. After listening to some of his work, I began to try my hand at writing poetry. As my interest in poetry grew, I thought I should memorize some poetic songs, since we had nothing to play music with on the jobsite (though some guys would make handmade Yucca flutes). That’s when I learned that John Denver was a fellow poet just like Cayden. I realized that his songs express a depth of meaning that is lost in the busy hubbub of everyday life.
I’m sure you’re familiar with John Denver’s “Country Road Take Me Home” or that one song “Rocky Mountain High” where nobody’s quite certain if he’s talking about good mountain vibes or actually getting high–I’m still unsure about that one. However, you might not have heard of John Denver’s seasons suites in his album Rocky Mountain High.
Back in the 1700’s, Vivaldi composed music about the seasons, but Denver found ample reason to do it again.
Season Suite: Fall
Since it’s the fall season, I thought it would be appropriate to appreciate some of John Denver’s poetry about autumn. His fall soundtrack takes us through September and into chilly October.
“And more than that, it’s, oh, so sad to see the summer end
And though the changing colors are a lovely thing to see
If it were mine to make the change, I think I’d let it be
But I don’t remember hearing anybody asking me”
- Season Suite: Fall
In his seasons suites, Denver writes about the parallel of human experience and the seasons of the year. Just like winter’s cold grayness, we sometimes lose some hope in life. But, we hold onto the fact that spring is just around the corner.
So, take some time this year to think about John Denver and his meaning of the seasons, the earth, and of life.
Listen to the rest of his seasons suites in his Rocky Mountain High album here, you won’t regret it!
