In 1972, John Denver had his second massive hit with “Rocky Mountain High”. Written by Denver and Mike Taylor, “Rocky Mountain High” is the title track of Denver’s sixth studio album.
Inspired by his time in Colorado, “Rocky Mountain High” says, “And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high, I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky / The shadows from the starlight are softer than a lullaby / Rocky Mountain high, Colorado, Rocky Mountain high.”
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“Rocky Mountain High” is an innocent song inspired by Denver’s time looking at the Rocky Mountains. Surprisingly, the song was actually banned at some radio stations since it referenced being high.
“My song, ‘Rocky Mountain High’, was banned from many radio stations as a drug-related song,” Denver later says. At the time, he was testifying before the Senate to fight music being labeled based on questionable content.
“This was obviously done by people who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains,” Denver ascertains. “And also, had never experienced the elation, celebration of life, or the joy in living that one feels when he observes something as wondrous as the Perseid meteor shower on a moonless, cloudless night, when there are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight. And you are out camping with your friends, your best friends, and introducing them to one of nature’s most spectacular light shows for the very first time.
“Obviously, a clear case of misinterpretation. Mr. Chairman,” he adds. “What assurance have I that any national panel to review my music would make any better judgment?”
How John Denver Wrote “Rocky Mountain High”
Denver was camping with his then-wife, Annie, and some other friends, when he began what became known as “Rocky Mountain High”. He got up around midnight and saw a stunning view.
“There was so much light from the stars in the sky that there was a noticeable difference between the clearing and everywhere else,” Denver recalls. ” The shadow of the starlight blew me away. Maybe it was the state I was in. I went back and lay down next to Annie in front of our tent, thinking everybody had gone to sleep, and thinking about how in nature all things, large and small, were interwoven. When swoosh, a meteor went smoking by.”
Immediately, everyone else was awake and in awe at the sky.
“It got bigger and bigger until the tail stretched out all the way across the sky and burned itself out,” Denver recounts. “Everybody was awake, and it was raining fire in the sky. I worked on the song—and the song worked on me—for a good couple of weeks.”
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