West Virginia erasure 

noun phrase

1. the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or re-explain favorable claims or information pertaining to the U.S. state of West Virginia in history, academia, the news media, etc. In its most extreme form, WV erasure can include the belief that WV itself does not exist.

Karen: Based on the geographical references in the lyrics, like "Blue Ridge Mountains" and "Shenandoah River", many have argued that John Denver shortened “western Virginia” to “west Virginia” (lowercase ‘w’) because the extra syllable would have disrupted the cadence. Plus, the actual road that inspired the song initially is Clopper Road in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Ava: Please, miss me with that West Virginia erasure bull shit! If you consider the lyrics, "miner's lady" and "stranger to blue water", the song "Country Roads" is clearly referring to the state of West Virginia. To this day, WV is 2nd only to WY in coal production. There are coal mines in VA but it's negligible compared to WV and other states. Most notably is the fact that WV is a landlocked state but VA is not. VA has a long Atlantic Ocean coastline, whereas, WV does not border any ocean. WV has plenty of rivers and lakes so, when you hear, "blue water", this is clearly in reference to ocean water.

West Virginia erasure by FinelyThreaded March 9, 2023