I know that because of Studio GhibliâŚmost Japanese people of a certain age know this song as âConcrete RoadââŚ
And properly done at any karaoke event, generally gets the people goinââŚso to speakâŚ
Edit: Itâs nice to see this guysâ perfectly acceptable version and how happy it makes everyone; John Denver may be corny as hell, and deadâŚbut his old-timey tracks (at least those that I like) may be underrated and unappreciated in many places, but I declare: âMontana Skiesâ kicks ass and I ainât afeard to say it.
as mentioned above, Studio Ghibliâs âWhisper of the Heartâ uses the song as an underlying theme. Thanks to wiki, Olivia Newton Johnâs version (used in the film) was a real big hit in Japan.
of course, my favorite version is Country Roads via Toots and the Maytals. 
Jeffrey sez, âThe nice responses to my essay on âHotel Californiaâ, has emboldened me to send a follow up on the curious life in China of another American song from the 1970s. Namely, the one that finds John Denver waxing nostalgic about West Virginia.â
Curious? From whose perspective?
Ah yes, those âcurious,â exotic, inscrutable Chinese people and their weird, quirky ways!
Sheesh. Will Westerners in general EVER get over Orientalism?
I read, somewhere, that âCountry Roadâ is also a sentimental favorite in some Arab nations.
Itâs also a favorite in German beer tents/festivals. High sing along factor.
Itâs curious that this song is so popular in a culture so foreign to the one itâs celebrating. Think, for example, of a Chinese folk song thatâs wildly popular in America. You donât need to be offended on everybody elseâs behalf all the time you know.
If the Japanese found the extended shelf life of the tune âUe o Muite ArukĹâ aka âSukiyakiâ in the Western world curious, would that be Occidentalism?
Came here to say something, comparably similar. So Iâll just add a link that explains it further:
But itâs not like John Denver is someone obscure. He was very talented at what he did and songs can have a very universal appeal when they have universal themes, or at least the âuniversalityâ that Aaron Fox alludes to in this RadioLab episode:
inexplicably big in Jamaica, too.
Toots and the Maytals 1973
Yellowman 1984
I canât get it to play the right one since itâs part of a playlist, but the did it, too.
Home is home: a universal themeâŚ
So Denver is kind of like Chinese for Jerry Lewis?
the song is massive in Thailand, as well⌠it was in the news a few years back for sparking a shooting rampage, after a manâs neighbors refused to stop their ad nauseam karaoke renditions
although the US aggressively exports cultural products like its music around the world, whereas China doesnât, so the example you give would be quantifiably more âcuriousââŚ
Huh last time I checked China has one of the most popular film industries pumping out movies all over the globe. China exports plenty of itâs culture.
âChopsticksâ?
thatâs true! i guess i should have referred specifically to music here. although even with film, i wouldnât say itâs quite comparable: the all time highest-grossing film in China is âAvatarâ, for instance
i know this is probably a joke, but for people who might actually think otherwise, Chopsticks has nothing to do with Chinese music
One of my nieces spent a couple of years in Ireland when this tune was going the rounds in a techno mix. She was able to share the Denver version with some of the youth she was working with, who had no idea of its origin.
As a displaced West Virginian myself, I know the power of this song to leave not a dry eye in the house for those who miss the hills. However the rational side of my brain has always been irritated he couldnât get the geography right. His two specific references- the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge- are in Virginia.
Itâs the life of the song thatâs curious, not the life of China.
