"Annie's Song" is a folk rock and country song recorded and written by singer-songwriter John Denver. The song was released as a single from Denver's album Back Home Again. It was his second number-one song in the United States, occupying that spot for two weeks in July 1974. "Annie's Song" also went to number one on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 25 song for 1974. It went to number one in the United Kingdom, where it was Denver's only major hit single. Four years later, an instrumental version also became flautist James Galway's only major British hit.
Background
"Annie's Song" was written as an ode to Denver's wife at the time, Annie Martell Denver. Denver "wrote this song in July 1973 in about ten-and-a-half minutes one day on a ski lift" to the top of Ajax Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, as the physical exhilaration of having "just skied down a very difficult run" and the feeling of total immersion in the beauty of the colors and sounds that filled all senses inspired him to think about his wife. Annie Denver recalls the beginnings: "It was written after John and I had gone through a pretty intense time together and things were pretty good for us. He left to go skiing and he got on the Ajax chair on Aspen mountain and the song just came to him. He skied down and came home and wrote it down... Initially it was a love song and it was given to me through him, and yet for him it became a bit like a prayer." "The first time I heard 'Annie's Song,' I told John it had the same melody as Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Second Movement," says Milt Okun. "He walked over to the piano, sat for an hour and came back, and the only thing remaining from Tchaikovsky was the first five notes. It was fantastic."
Critical reception
Shawn M. Haney of Allmusic noted the song's expressive emotionality, calling it an "ever so romantic tearjerker". Haney praised "Annie's Song" as "one of Denver's finest achievements". Billboard called it a "fine love song."
On July 4, 2016, Ville Valo released a cover version of "Annie's Song" in Finnish, titled "Olet mun kaikuluotain". The lyrics were by Hector, and the song had previously been recorded in 1976 by Freeman. Ville Valo's version was released as a tribute to Finnish label Love Records, who celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2016. Valo's version was also the first release from the label in over 30 years. Valo commented on the song, stating: "'Kaikuluotain' is a childhood favorite of mine, to the beat of which many a sleepless night ended up in tears. To this day it gives me cold shivers and goosebumps." The song would go on to reach number one on the Finnish Download Chart. Valo's version also received a music video, directed by Ykä Järvinen. Released on July 11, 2016, the video features scenes of Valo walking around Helsinki, done in tribute to Aki Kaurismäki's film Calamari Union. The video received the Emma Award for Video of the Year in 2017.
Other notable cover versions
recorded a version of the song but it was not released until 1995 on his album The Essential Glen Campbell Volume Three. James Nesbitt performs the song on stage in the pilot episode of British television drama Murphy's Law. American punk rock bandMe First and the Gimme Gimmes covered the song on their album Love Their Country in 2006. British folk trio Honey Ryder covered "Annie's Song" as a single in December 2012. British musical theatre actor Daniel Boys covered the song on his 2009 debut album So Close. Spanish dramatic tenorPlácido Domingo also covered the song, featuring John Denver himself on lead guitar. In the UK the song was used as the basis for "The Greasy Chip Butty Song", primarily associated with fans of the football teamSheffield United F.C.. The Foundation for a Better Life won a CINE award for their video featuring the song in 2014. Karel Gott covered the song in the Czech language as "Když Milenky Pláčou". Pakistani pop singer Khalid Waheed covered the song in Urdu as "Mere Jeevan Mein Aana."
