Every few years, John Denver’s iconic “Take Me Home, Country Roads” sparks debate in our area when its origin reappears in viral social media posts. Recently, Barstool’s DMV affiliate shared a post claiming, “The Road in Take Me Home, Country Roads, is Not in West Virginia, It’s Actually Clopper Road in Gaithersburg.” This stirred up discussions regarding the song’s true origin, prompting us to revisit the real story.
While “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a cherished anthem for West Virginia, its famous chorus was actually born during a drive in Maryland. Co-writers Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert recount how a simple journey on Clopper Road, located primarily in Gaithersburg and Germantown, inspired one of American music’s most enduring folk songs, though the lyrics are based on West Virginia.
In 1970, Danoff and Nivert were traveling traveling through Maryland and found themselves on Clopper Road, a winding, rural path at the time. As Danoff played his guitar, he began repeating the phrase “country roads,” also drawing from his own rural New England roots. He later told NBC4 Washington that the road’s feel was the initial inspiration. In a WTOP interview, DC-area singer/songwriter Len Jaffe, who was present for the song’s debut at the Cellar Door, said, “The road they were actually on was Clopper Road, in Gaithersburg, a little two-lane blacktop.”
However, the lyrics weren’t focused on Maryland. Danoff, who had never visited West Virginia, found additional inspiration in a friend’s postcards and memories of listening to the Wheeling Jamboree on the radio. He sought words that sounded beautiful and evocative. In an interview, Danoff explained, “I just started thinking, ‘country roads.’ It didn’t have anything to do with Maryland or any place… The words that I loved in that song were Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. They’re songwriter words, so that got me to West Virginia.”
Danoff and Nivert later introduced the song to John Denver and the trio spent the night crafting the rest of the song at Danoffs’ home in Washington DC. The following night, they performed it for the first time at The Cellar Door in DC, where it received a five-minute standing ovation. While “Take Me Home, Country Roads” honors West Virginia, its origin story is forever linked to that unforgettable drive along Clopper Road in Montgomery County.
