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A view of Williams Lake south of Basalt, Colorado. This quiet serene place is what inspired folk rock singer & songwriter John Denver to write the hit Rocky Mountain High, which would later become one of Colorado's state songs. The location has probably not changed since Denver visited some 53 years prior.
Backstory of Rocky Mountain High: In August of 1971, John Denver and some of his friends camped at Williams Lake near Aspen, at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, and watched the Persoid shower into the wee hours of the morning. He began composing the song that night, finishing it a couple of weeks later with the assistance of fellow musician Mike Taylor who “showed [him] this guitar lick and suddenly the whole thing came together. It was just what the piece needed.” Many of the lyrics refer to incidents that were very personal to Denver. For instance, the very first line is: “He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he’d never been before.” This refers to the fact that John and his wife Annie had made Aspen their home shortly before his 27th birthday. He then says, “When he first came to the mountains, his life was far away on the road and hanging by a song,” referring to his life as a musician performing all across the country. When he talks about “climb[ing] cathedral mountains,” he is probably thinking of Cathedral Peak and its neighbor, Castle Peak, which are two of the highest peaks in Colorado and are located just outside of Aspen. The line about “he lost a friend, but kept the memory” refers to an incident in which a friend from Minnesota had come to Colorado to visit and was killed in an accident while riding Denver’s motorcycle. John Denver’s concern for the environment is also evident as the song points out that he cannot comprehend “why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more, more people, more scars upon the land.”
From: https://ralstoncreekreview.com/rocky-mountain-high/
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The United States is one of the most diverse countries on earth, jam packed full of amazing sights from St. Patrick's cathedral in New York to Mount Hollywood California.The Northeast region is where it all started. Thirteen British colonies fought the American Revolution from here and won their independence in the first successful colonial rebellion in history. Take a look at these rolling hills carpeted with foliage along the Hudson river here, north of New York City.The American south is known for its polite people and slow pace of life. Probably they move slowly because it's so hot. Southerners tend not to trust people from "up north" because they talk too fast. Here's a cemetery in Georgia where you can find graves of soldiers from the Civil War.The West Coast is sort of like another country that exists to make the east coast jealous. California is full of nothing but grizzly old miners digging for gold, a few gangster rappers, and then actors. That is to say, the West Coast functions as the imagination of the US, like a weird little brother who teases everybody then gets famous for making freaky art.The central part of the country is flat farmland all the way over to the Rocky Mountains. Up in the northwest corner you can find creative people in places like Portland and Seattle, along with awesome snowboarding and good beer. Text by Steve Smith.
