Ten Folk Songs Everyone Should Be Aware Of

Julie Lacksonen in her group Vocal Writing Prompts asked for a playlist of ten favourite songs in a favourite genre. My musical tastes are very eclectic, but for this one, I have chosen folk, but this playlist is a drop of water in an ocean of song. Even looking at my choices there are so many artists and songs I have missed but I hope that my choices will make you want to explore the artists in here.

The YouTube Playlist is here and I suggest you play it as you read.

So here we go

1: Canadee-I-O by Nic Jones

I have written about the wonderful Nic Jones, and you can read the story following this. For years I avoided this song because the title just seemed so twee, then at some point I heard it, either by random playing or something else. For a start the acoustic guitar intro of this six-minute song goes on for a minute and is the most beautiful intro I have ever heard, I could listen to that on repeat for a long time, but then Nic’s voice comes in to tell a wonderful love story in adversity and you have you find out what happens.

2: Who Knows Where The Time Goes? By Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention were the genesis of folk-rock in the UK and have had so many members and produced so many defining songs that choosing one was damned near impossible. I decided to choose the beautiful Sandy Denny composition “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” which predated her time with the band, but is a beautiful touchstone that you never want to end.

3: World Turned Upside Down by Dick Gaughan

Dick Gaughan for me has one of the most distinctive singing voices I have ever heard. I first heard him singing with the band Five Hand Reel who I saw at Preston Guildhall around 1972 and saw Dick solo at the North Shields Fish Quay Festival maybe twenty years back. He is, like me, very left-wing, and “World Turned Upside Down” is a perfect encapsulation and delivery of his values.

4: Wasn’t Born To Follow by The Byrds

I first heard The Byrds with their gorgeous ringing cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” on Thank Your Lucky Stars around 1965 and I was hooked. The Byrds defined American Folk Rock in the early 1960s and this song from the soundtrack of “Easy Rider” is one of their many great songs that illustrates their faultless sound.

5: My Back Pages by Bob Dylan

Probably the first Bob Dylan song I heard was “Mr Tambourine Man '' performed by The Byrds, then I heard him sing and it was like going from silk to sandpaper. I then bought a book for his song lyrics and was so impressed that I started to listen again and then I got it, but not everyone does. Because of his huge back catalogue I didn’t know what song I was going to choose, but “My Back Pages” contains two lines that I love so much and that swung it for me. These are those lines:

“Pounced with fire on flaming roads , Using ideas as my maps”

And

“Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now”

6: This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie

One of the most important songwriters in history, he wrote thousands and influenced so many others, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen to name two. This song should be a national anthem everywhere and it was sung at Barack Obama’s Inauguration sung by Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen. That’s on the playlist too along with Woody’s.

I also loved his guitar flash that states “This Guitar Kills Fascists”

7:Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg

When I heard this I thought it was so Woody Guthrie, the debut song from Jake Bugg , who is English and grew up in this millennium showing that folk music will always be with us

8: Ryan Harvey - Old Man Trump

I met a singer Louise Distras who was supporting The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing and she told me she had worked with Ryan Harvey. This is another Woody Guthrie cover about Donald Trump’s dad and is another illustration of why a lot of folk music leans toward the left. It is one of the ways that we can actually try and enlighten people about what is going on in the world.

9:Prince Heathen - Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick

Both these amazing artists have been members of Fairport Convention and I first heard this song on a John Peel session, and think I learned to play it but have never recorded it. It is dark and tells a disturbing story of a woman railing against the evil lord who raped and imprisoned her so he could get a son. Very disturbing but hypnotically brilliant. Simon and Garfunkel took Martin’s arrangement for their release of “Scarborough Fair/Canticle”

10:Eric Bogle - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

One of the greatest and most poignant anti-war songs I have ever heard. It has been covered many times and I am yet to hear a bad or disrespectful version. This is the man who wrote it.

Conclusion

There are many songs and artists I have missed but I hope that you can listen to the playlist and enjoy it and maybe investigate a few of them. Maybe if I did this tomorrow it would be a different list.