Charles Wesley Godwin Rips Into ‘Country Roads’ Critics in Fiery Quote

That should put an end to that debate.

One of the best traditions in all of college sports is the singing of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" after a West Virginia win.

It's something Mountaineer fans have been doing for two-plus decades now, but the tradition just recently went viral during the baseball team's run to the College World Series, which was followed up by fans singing it after the U.S. men's soccer team's win in the World Cup over the weekend.

But folks can't just let West Virginia have their moment in the spotlight, can they? Every time a post was made on social media that featured fans singing the song, you'd see a bunch of tweets and comments like the ones below that suggest the song is not about West Virginia.

The song is not even about the state of West Virginia, so there is that https://t.co/wnonG0NMVo

— Adam Booker (@abooker17) June 21, 2026

Bill Danoff was Country Roads lead writer. He’d never been to West Virginia. The song was inspired by his childhood in Massachusetts, but he didn’t think the word “Massachusetts” was “musical.” West Virginia also has 4 syllables so he used it, aware it was also a beautiful state. https://t.co/NLa6XFzpIq

— Denlesks (@Denlesks) June 21, 2026

Fun fact about the song “Country Roads.” The inspiration for it came from scenery in Virginia and Maryland, where the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River are most prominent. But lyrically, “West Virginia” worked better.

We heard that shortly after moving here, and I… https://t.co/bnPUrERN40

— Dan Viens 🎙(Seahawks Forever Podcast) (@SeahawksForever) June 21, 2026

"It's about Virginia," says one person. "It's actually about Maryland," another would say. But the Massachusetts one? Yeah, that might take the cake for the "let's try to make it about me" award.

It's the most ridiculous thing for people to claim, especially when you listen to the lyrics of the song. John Denver quite literally says, "Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, West Virginia." Not western Virginia, Maryland, or I can't believe I'm even saying this....MASSACHUSETTS.

Rising country star and Morgantown, West Virginia native Charles Wesley Godwin recently addressed this viral topic during an appearance on The Brothers Hunt podcast.

Happy West Virginia Day to everyone except people who think “Country Roads” is about the western part of Virginia pic.twitter.com/6JLRq1yKKY

— Charles Wesley Godwin (@CharlesWesleyG) June 20, 2026

“A lot of folks, for the first time, saw the tradition that we have at WVU. When we win, we sing Country Roads. Every time, man. And inevitably, there’s always that person that’s like, ‘You know, the song’s about Virginia’ or ‘About western Virginia.’ Those people drive me f****** nuts. If you’re coming from (Washington) D.C., swing through Harper’s Ferry and tell me it’s about Virginia, not West Virginia.

"First off, I know this for a fact," he continued. "I have a song called 'Cue Country Roads', which I made for the Mountaineers. I wanted to play it at the games and stuff. That had to go through John Denver’s estate. 'Cue Country Roads,' I pay a royalty to John Denver’s estate in order to have that song. I’ve met the manager; I’ve met family members and stuff. That song is about West Virginia. The story goes they were writing it, they played in D.C. the night before, and they were headed west, and they were going through like the Eastern Panhandle and going through Harper’s Ferry and all, and they were writing the song that day in the car.”

While it may be agitating for WVU fans to defend constantly, it's a good thing if you have to do it a lot because that means the Mountaineers are winning a bunch of games.