Why Do NFL Fans In Germany Sing “Country Roads”? Tradition Explained

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks played last year, NFL fans in the United States were taken aback to watch a full crowd in Munich chanting John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Why Do NFL Fans In Germany Sing “Country Roads”? Tradition Explained

On social media, former Jets centre Nick Mangold wrote, “My NFL Germany bingo card did not have Country Roads.” It was the first NFL regular season game to be played in Germany.

Let’s take a look at the history of the song and where it’s played in Germany.

John Denver’s tribute to the tranquil scenery that scribbles over the Mid-Atlantic is “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The famous song appears to be popular in Germany because after the Chiefs defeated the Dolphins in Week 9, the Deutsch Bank Park concourses rocked to the music that came from the stadium speakers.

The song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is well-known worldwide. And it appears to have had a particularly lasting impact on people in and around Bavaria; over time, Germans have embraced the song as a part of their own culture, much to the bewilderment of many an American observer.

Songwriters John Denver, Taffy Nivert, and Bill Danoff composed “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” In late August of 1971, the song, which had been recorded and published during the first part of the year, peaked at number two on Billboard’s US Hot 100 singles.

Amazingly, the song achieved platinum certification in 2017, more than 35 years after it was first published. It was certified gold in 1971. It featured on Denver’s second album, “Poems, Prayers, and Promises,” as the B-side.

Denver perished in an aircraft crash in 1997 at the age of 53.

Munich’s Oktoberfest is one of the largest festivals in Germany that has always featured the song. Immersed in the seductive charm of beer and lederhosen, the song has a way of getting people moving.

It was thus not surprising that the song went with The Shield when the group initially made the decision to showcase its abilities in the verdant woodlands of Central Europe.

An intense performance of the song, which attracted the attention of celebrities like Nick Mangold, preceded the first NFL Germany.

Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, a Denver-based songwriting pair, were the original creators of the song. Instead of being a hymn to the Mountain State, the song evolved into a stanza honoring the verdant area that sprung up on both sides of Clopper Road, a once-picturesque highway in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The song has been played for years during Munich’s Oktoberfest, an annual celebration with food, drink, and entertainment. The middle of September to the first Sunday in October is when Oktoberfest takes place.

During the NFL game in Munich last year, which took place weeks after Oktoberfest concluded, thousands of fans enjoyed Denver’s hit.

 

 

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