TIL none of the writers of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" had been to West Virginia, and they used an encyclopedia to look up facts about it. The song was mainly inspired by one writer's upbringing in Springfield, MA, but he didn't think the word "Massachusetts" was musical.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Home,_Country_Roads#Composition
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1gbzvm5/til_none_of_the_writers_of_take_me_home_country/