He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his disdain for city life, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning him twelve gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".
Denver starred in films and several notable television specials in the 1970s and 1980s. He continued to record in the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues by lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress in protest against censorship in music. He lived in Aspen, Colorado for much of his life and was known for his love of Colorado which he sang about numerous times. In 1974 Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007. Denver was an avid pilot and died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash of his personal experimental aircraft.
Paradise
John Denver Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Down to western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Well sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
And the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
In John Denver's song "Paradise," the singer reminisces about his childhood travels with his family to western Kentucky where his parents were born. He remembers a backward old town that he and his family frequented so often that his memories have been worn. The singer asks his father to take him back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River where "Paradise" lay. However, his father tells him that he's too late in asking as Mister Peabody's coal train has already hauled it away.
The song sheds light on the devastating effects that the coal industry had on small communities in Kentucky. The singer describes how the coal company came with the world's largest shovel and stripped all the land, torturing the timber, and forsaking the land from its natural beauty. He eloquently describes how the progress of man was written as destruction instead of preservation.
The song has a strong message about the irreplaceable nature of natural beauty and how quickly it can be destroyed. The lyrics are powerful in showing how even if we destroy a small piece of nature, it cannot be replaced, and the damage is irreversible.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a child, my family would travel
Down to western Kentucky where my parents were born
As a child, my family took trips to my parents' hometown in western Kentucky.
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn
There is a small town that I remember quite often, to the point where my memories of it are becoming blurry.
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
I wish my father would take me back to Muhlenberg County by the Green River to see our old paradise, but it's too late because the coal company destroyed it all.
Well sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill
We used to explore the Green River area and visit an abandoned prison near Adrie Hill. We would shoot our pistols, but we only aimed at empty pop bottles.
And the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man
The coal company arrived with a large shovel and destroyed the land by stripping it of its resources. They continued to mine coal until the land was barren, claiming it as progress.
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
Again, I ask my father to take me back to Muhlenberg County by the Green River, but it's too late because the coal company has already taken everything away.
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
One final time, I request that my father take me back to our old paradise, but it's too late because the coal train has taken it all away.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John Prine
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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ramada rose
Sadly, I was never able to see John Denver play live. But he was my influence to play the guitar at age 12. No, I'm not as good as he ever was, but the first song I really learned to play was "Paradise"!! I still play it today, and blow people away not by my playing but by his message! LOVE YOU, JOHN, and THANK YOU!!
Donald Vandevenne
He left a lot great messages over the years.
John Cooper
Agree. First song i learned was "Sunshine on my Shoulders". (in 1975 when i was 11) We had the Rocky Mountain High album. I still play also. Once a guitarist, always a guitarist.
lovedungeon
William Franklin my first concert was John Denver, and then I was blessed to see him at the Aspen Music Festival, and once again at Wolf Trap. That man saved my life with his music.
William Franklin
There's one song that john did that got me to learn how to finger pick a guitar and that's (this old guitar)
Luckydog -
Probably the first John Prine song that I ever remember hearing.
David McGee
Same here.
ian sing
probably, that was me too!