30 bucket list items college football fans need to experience

18. “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” West Virginia

Songs are a regular part of the college football experience, both in terms of fight songs and halftime shows played by the school bands in attendance, or through popular music played on stadium loudspeakers. Some, like “Jump Around,” pump up the crowd. Others invoke pride in a city, community, state or university.

John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” falls into the second category. Written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert Danoff and Denver – a New Mexico native that grew up in Arizona, Alabama and Texas, who studied at Texas Tech – struck a cord in West Virginia after it was recorded in 1971. From the chorus:

"“Country roads, take me home To the place I belong. West Virginia, mountain mama, Take me home, country roads.”"

The song has been played before every Mountaineer home football games since 1972, played by the Pride of West Virginia marching band as part of the pregame show. It has long been the official University theme song, and students sign the song at the New Student Welcome as part of their first weekend on campus and at Commencement after graduating.

Denver performed “Take Me Home, Country Roads” at Milan Puskar Stadium before a game in 1980, and the song became one of the official state songs when the West Virginia legislature passed a resolution in 2014. Fans also stand and sing along to the tune after wins (including basketball wins, when the singing can also be heard rushing the court).

Singing “Country Roads” is a unique college football tradition fans must see to understand, and traveling to Morgantown to do it should be part of everyone’s college football bucket list.