Why would a fine piece of music titled "Country Roads" be black-balled?

Black-ball is a sort of secret balloting to exclude membership of an individual in an organization. Colloquially black-balling can mean just plain rejection.

It is not really accurate to say that is what Marshall University's athletic director Mike Hamrick did. According to press reports, at the urging of alumni, he requested that the Marshall Marching Thunder no longer play "Country Roads" at football games.

As a piece of music, that song was made famous by John Denver. It touches the hearts of many of us mountaineers. Note lower case "m," because a capital "M" means West Virginia University. One must be careful.

Heartfelt or not, the song is known by many to be WVU's theme song. It has been played at every home football game since 1972. Despite some Internet errors, it is not their fight song. It is, please note, their theme song.

Is this whole thing fair?

First, fair is not a fair question. Second, some music, honored and cherished by hundreds of thousands over the world, has been black-balled, rejected, and reviled. Example: Richard Wagner (1813-1883).

For decades after World War II, there was a taboo in Israel against any performance of music by Richard Wagner. If you are an admirer of German opera, it is mainly due to this composer.

The music aside, for Jews it evoked painful memories of the horrific Holocaust. Why? Wagner's music was a favorite of Hitler's.

For some time, this writer thought that the phrase "...keeping the alumni sullen but not mutinous..." was from Notre Dame's football coach Knute Rockne. Not so. It was Herman Hickman former football coach at Yale who once said it.

It is easy to realize why many coaches know the reality of that pronouncement.

One cannot equate football and Auschwitz. No matter. For too many of us, Auschwitz is a thing of the past. But football is a thing of the present.

It boils down to feelings. Music deals with feelings -- elation, happiness, fear, love, and more, much more. For some that cannot smooth out the hard edges of competition.

A hundred years from now, there will be little remembrance of the rejection and taboo about Wagner's music in general and John Denver's "County Roads." By the way, Denver did not compose the song alone. It got started by Bill Danoff and Tammy Nivert, and Denver joined in.

It is heard all over the world -- recordings have been made in France, the Czech Republic, Japan, Romania, and more, plus a Disney sing-along disk.

Band director and professor of music Steve Barnett says he is looking for a replacement for "Country Roads." Even with his extraordinary skill of arranging for band and his extensive knowledge in music, it is not an easy task.

Without question, Wagner's music will survive. It is glorious, in and of itself.

Another survivor may well be the music and words "Country roads take me home to the place where I belong" because it reflects yearning. That feeling never dies out.

Louis A. Capaldini is a retired businessman who recently completed studies for a master's degree in music.

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