Middle Schoolers Shock Teacher When They Sing Every Word Of a John Denver Classic

Long after John Denver’s passing in 1997, his music still lives on, and even today’s middle schoolers can sing along. A teacher who often plays music for her class shared a video of the students enjoying Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which they requested earlier.

She captioned the post, “What is it like teaching middle schoolers? My students requested one song today. This is what happened when I played it,” as she showed off the adorable moment to her followers on X, formerly Twitter.

X users react to middle schoolers singing a John Denver classic

Denver’s fans and other social media users found the video adorable, especially because the late entertainer’s song seemed to appeal to the younger generation. “I’m so happy to see something wholesome for a change,” someone commented. “I am so glad we were able to bring you that small amount of joy. God bless you. It will be ok. BIG HUG,” another added.

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The clip soon became viral with over a million views, 15k likes, and thousands of reposts. A nostalgic follower recalled living “through FOUR decades of music like this, and then it went to shit.” “From the 1960s through the 1990s, we had music that stirred your soul. They know. It’s time to turn it back on,” they added.

Denver’s evergreen music

Denver’s song is dear to hearts for several reasons, including the mention of “West Virginia,” which also does not limit the song’s “geographical” value. “We can think about the song as being about any place – it names West Virginia, but it doesn’t have to,” Assistant Professor Sarrah Morris of West Virginia University told CBS.

The song has an emotional impact on the listener, so they “take the song and re-appropriate it so that it’s about the place that’s home to them.” “Change the geographic references, change the lyrics, change the location. But it doesn’t really change the song, and it doesn’t change the meaning of the song,” Morris noted.

Songwriter and guitarist Brad Paisley agrees to the homesick feeling “Country Roads” evokes in him as well, especially “when you hear that iconic acoustic guitar part— ‘driving down the road I get a feeling that I should have been home yesterday.’” “I think once you move away, the song takes on way more just character and depth,” he added.