"Annie's Song" is a song recorded and written by
singer-songwriter John Denver. It was his second number one
song in the USA, occupying that spot for two weeks in July
1974. It also went to number one in the UK, where it was
Denver's only major hit single (many of Denver's American hits
were more familiar in the UK through cover versions by other
artists).
"Annie's Song" was written as an ode to Denver's then-wife,
Annie Denver (née Martell). Denver "wrote this song in about
ten-and-a-half minutes one day on a ski lift" to the top of
Bell 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.
The song has since become a wedding standard and an
expression of love for many people, due to its grand imagery
and the fact it could apply to anyone (Annie is not mentioned
by name in any part of the song).
Monty Python did a send-up of the song on their
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Albumin 1980,
called "Farewell to John Denver". The track contained a few
bars of Eric Idle impersonating John Denver singing "Annie's
Song" with joke lyrics: "you came on my pillow..." (followed by
the sound of the singer being strangled) and was removed from
subsequent pressings of the album on legal advice (reports
differ as to whether it had to do with the licensing of
"Annie's Song" or the depiction of the popular singer being
murdered), and was replaced by an apology spoken by Terry
Jones. Later CD releases of the album, however, reinstated the
John Denver track.
Its tune is used in the UK by "The Greasy Chip Butty Song",
the main chant of fans of Sheffield United football club.