25 folk songs
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Forum Name: General Music Discussions
Forum Description: Discuss and create polls about all types of music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=122490
Printed Date: March 12 2025 at 16:01
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Topic: 25 folk songs
Posted By: Logan
Subject: 25 folk songs
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 12:45
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EDIT: NOW WITH MORE CHOICES THAN EVER (multiple votes enabled). I came up with a much larger list the other day, but then opted not to post it (and failed to save). This focuses on the late 60s through early 70s. This leaves off many of my favourites. I have been told that I tend to go for too many choices, instead of too few, and know I use too many words instead of too few so I panned to keep this to 12, but I went overlong again. Tim Buckley - "Sing a Song for You" Vashti Bunyan - "Winter is Blue" Lenoard Cohen - "Suzanne" Comus - "Winter is a Coloured Bird" Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - "Wooden Ships" Donovan - "Three King Fishers" Nick Drake - "River Man" Extradition - "A Water Song" Forest - "Graveyard" Mark Fry - "The Witch" Paul Giovanni & Magnet - "Willow's Song" off The Wicker Man OST Gryphon - "The Unquiet Grave" Roy Harper - "Me and My Woman" The Incredible String Band - "A Very Cellular Song" Jan Dukes de Grey - "Sun Symphonica" Perry Leopold - "The Journey" Mellow Candle - "Sheep Season" Mr. Fox - "Mr. Fox" Pearls Before Swine - "God Save the Child" The Pentangle - "Cruel Sister" Linda Perhacs - "Parallelograms" Catherine Ribeiro + 2 Bis - "Le Crime de l'Enfant Dieu" Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Suffer the Little Children" Simon and Garfunkel - "The Sound of Silence" Spirogyra - "An Everyday Consumption Song" Cat Stevens - "Trouble" Strawbs - "Witchwood" Trees - "The Garden of Jane Delawney" Neil Young - "The Needle and the Damage Done" I tried to do this alphabetically, using the first letter of the surname for order and not including the artcle for order,, and instead of squeezing in multiple options, I took this list to the first 25 listed (I don't count as I went along) Ugh, and to think it cuts off right before one of my all-time favourite songs, "Trouble" by Cat Stevens. Should there be sufficient interest (it's not the quantity of responses, but more about the way the discussion goes, or fails to go), I will create a part two that includes the last three in my list here as well. as many others. Please excuse any mistakes I may have made. |
Replies:
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 13:15
I'm familiar with nearly all of the artists in your list, but I'm not familiar with the songs. I'm especially fond of..... well, just about all of the artists on your list really, so it's not easy to single out just one to vote for. 
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Posted By: tamijo_II
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 13:54
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Did not vote as i don't know 80% of those, but hard to imagine that there was a track more iconic than Simon and Garfunkel - "The Sound of Silence"
The Needle and the Damage Done is a better song but The Sound of Silence has something i can't explain. ------------- Same person as this profile: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=22524" rel="nofollow - Tamijo |
Posted By: Snicolette
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 14:14
Wonderful list, Logan, many of my faves here, as well as the author of my endquote to all of my posts (and from that song). That being said, though, I am voting for "Cruel Sister," by The Pentangle. Pretty hard to beat a long ballad with a great female singer, fine musicianship by all and a tale of treachery that ends with the murdereress being identified by a harp strung of the her dead sister's breastbone and 3 locks of her hair, while played before the gathering of her family.
------------- "Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp |
Logan wrote:Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:07
Thanks Nickie; it's very much appreciated (as always). :) Of course I'm into all in my list, but I love your choice. A fun thing for me when thinking through such lists is thinking which specific songs I want to go for. In some cases I go back and re-listen to various music, including "Cruel Sister" and that is my song of the day. It reminded me of just how much I love that one; so much so that I played it two more times. |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:18
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Great list. It might take me some time to make a decision. There are at least 7 songs I could choose. ------------- 
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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:20
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I thought I was going to be able to pick multiple times so started with Mellow Candle's "Sheep Season" though could just as easily chosen "Cruel Sister" or "Me and My Woman" or Buckley or S & Gfunkle. Or Spirogyra. Or... ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:25
It's a challenge. While on PA I almost always keep a youtube tab open to help. Sometimes I have to remind myself. Which is not to say that I would take the time to check out 25 tracks, but I usually get some gut feeling to lead me to a choice -- that process can be fun for me, if I have the time and inclination, which I don't always. Even knowing all the choices, sometimes it's too much to choose from. They did a study where one time participant were asked to choose between but four basic ice cream flavours and in another instance choose one of 100 choices. Those people were happier when faced with only a few choices than those stressed out people trying to decide between 100, and not surprisingly, were less likely to regret their decision. Provided it's all high quality and I have time and space to carefully look through the choices, I'd rather have 100 to choose from. I often enjoy going through the processes, and research if applicable, to come to non serious consequence decisions. |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:29
I almost always do go multiple choice for such polls; will change it to multiple options. Not sure why I didn't this time. Oh, now I remember, because I meant it originally to have far less choices, and avoid obscurities, but then I couldn't help myself and went longer. |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:38
I don't do contests, and care more about the comments than the poll itself, so feel free to vote even if only for The Sound of Silence. It is indeed amazingly iconic, and of course The Graduate is a very iconic film. I think it's a brilliant song. Less iconic, but other quite iconic ones would, I think, include Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Wooden Ships" (almost went for "Guinevere" which I also love), Nick Drake's "River Man" and I would definitely include "Willow's Song" from The Wicker Man OST as iconic (it's a very iconic cult film). |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:50
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I voted for Linda Perhacs "Parallelograms" in the end, as I love all of the songs on that album.
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Posted By: Snicolette
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:51
------------- "Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:52
Thanks, I did opt to change to multiple votes after a comment (although I usually just go for one even when that is an option). The other day I was doing one which asks you to vote for five, and I got to five, but it took ages as I got Captchaed multiple times for every vote cast.
I love that album too. Have not listened to it in quite a while, but I also enjoyed her 2014 release The Soul of All Natural Things. She's one of those not well-known in her day, and still not really well-know, but got a significant following in the internet age. I love her vocals. |
Posted By: Snicolette
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 16:53
Just a great song, along with the other long piece on there, "Jack Orion," always one of my favourites, also. ------------- "Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp |
Posted By: jamesbaldwin
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 18:09
Voted for Suzanne - Cohen Tim Buckley is close. Other artists: Johnny Cash: The Man Comes Around Bruce Springsteen: Youngstown/The Ghost of Tom Joad Suzanne Vega: The Queen and The Soldier Tracy Chapman: Bridges/This Time Cat Stevens: O Caritas Neil Young: Running Dry John Hiatt: Mr Stanley Fabrizio De Andre: Sidun/Disamistade Francesco Guccini: Canzone delle domande consuete Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti: Cupe Vampe Modena City Ramblers: Remedios la bella Donovan: Universe Am I ------------- Amos Goldberg (professor of Genocide Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem): Yes, it's genocide. It's so difficult and painful to admit it, but we can no longer avoid this conclusion. |
Posted By: Mortte
Date Posted: March 14 2020 at 23:16
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Not heard all, but the most anyway, Comus for me!! Really would have liked to take "Sounds Of Silence" also, have been long time one of my biggest faves!!!
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Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: March 17 2020 at 15:26
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There are a lot of songs here that I love. As the title of the post is Folk songs that narrows things considerably for me (I wont go into what constitutes 'folk' music to me here) so I will choose one and that's Mr Fox.. But I do love the incredible string band and of course Roy Harper too.. xx ------------- |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: March 17 2020 at 15:34
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I gave my vote to Jan Dukes de Grey, just over Nick Drake. -------------
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Posted By: LAM-SGC
Date Posted: March 22 2020 at 18:09
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We are worlds apart when it comes to folk music. So I can't vote. As the best folk songs of that period aren't there in my opinion, Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Lindisfarne, Bert Jansch, John Renbourne, Stealers Wheel, Prior & Tabor, Jethro Tull, The Watersons, Anne Briggs, Albion Country Band, Frankie Armstrong, Martin Carthy and so on. |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 22 2020 at 20:30
We're world's apart apparently, yet the first act you mention, Pentangle, is represented in my list as the Pentangle? I could have just as easily gone for a track off of, say, Basket of Light as Cruel Sister. I also like Bert Jansch, and various others in your list. I would reckon, though, that you are more into folkrock than I am, whereas I favour kinds of acid folk. freak folk and wyrd folk. It's an interesting thing that I tend to look look hard to try to find where those worlds might intersect, whereas others tend to focus on the differences. I think it is partially because of my holistic view of the universe, that all things connect, and one can find similarities when one looks hard enough. It's not just a stylistic difference, but a philosophical difference. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: March 22 2020 at 21:48
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Nick Drake ...River Man from that list , but I also voted for several others.....Harper, Simon and Garfunkel, Mr Fox, Pentangle, CSNY.... ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: March 23 2020 at 01:33
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The Sound Of Silence - one of the best songs ever written IMO. Apparently Paul Simon didn't bother to attend the Grammies that year assuming that Hey Jude was a shoe in , and so missed picking up the award for best song. Folk music is something I don't have much interest in so I just don't know any of the other songs. Peter Sarstedt - Where Do You Go to My Lovely is worth a mention.
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Posted By: BarryGlibb
Date Posted: March 24 2020 at 04:50
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Now if Northern Sky by Nick Drake was on the list, then that would have been my selection. So went for the S&G classic SoS; even though I think America, also by S&G, probably even pips SoS. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 24 2020 at 05:58
Nice folky selection  This is the type of music I really dig listening to outside in tall grasses. There’s just something about the combination....and yeah add to that; unlike a lot of the pork we dish out here on PA, music like this actually resonates immensely with the opposite sex (yes I know there are exceptions to every rule and that NO woman or man is an Island in and of themselves!!!)...and we all need music that plays well with others imho. I went for three without any votes: Catherine Ribeiro, Perry Leopold and Pearls Before Swine. Funny. I was listening to Emtidi’s Saat when I saw this poll...and it could very well have been an option. ‘Don’t sit on the grass It’s too cold for your ass’ Marvelous poetry right there! ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: SteveG
Date Posted: March 24 2020 at 06:12
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Out of these: Me And My Woman. ------------- This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State. |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 24 2020 at 06:41
Me too, also probably The Boxer by S&G.
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 24 2020 at 10:00
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^^^ David, that Saat is one of my favourites too. Been a long time since I last listened to it. I spent a year familarising myself with music in PA before joining with this account (I had had an earlier registered account), and I used the mp3 tracks we had then (at first downloadable, then streamable as I recall) to discover so much music, and Saat was one of the first that really resonated with me,, and so I got the album. It was one of my early discoveries through PA, along with Heldon, Forest (I'm very surprised "Graveyard" has no votes -- love at first listen for me) Tim Blake, Carpe Diem, Third Ear Band, Tangerine Dream's first (I did have Phaedra already in my collection) and various others that immediately resonated at the time. ^^ Steve, feel free to mention any favourites off of these (i.e, not in my list). I'm very happy when people find something to like on my lists and mention their actual favourites (I like to hear about those, and it helps to connect with those who share similar tastes - I've discovered so much great to me music because I found others who I connected with musically, which has proved one of my greatest joys at this site). ^ The only album of Nick Drake I actually have in my collection is Five Leaves Left. My two favourite songs of his are "River Man" and "Fruit Tree", which says something about my psychology, both of which I found so emotionally resonant. Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom elicits a rather similar reaction. That said, I have heard lots of his other music, including "Northern Lights." It didn't connect with me, seemed rather ordinary to me, if you know what I mean. But many consider it to be extraordinary. Both "River Man" and "Fruit Tree", on the other hand, moved me profoundly and resonated with me so deeply from first listen. Either of those could have been my choice. "Cello Song" would be my third favourite. Nick Drake certainly was able to do melancholy -- such a tragic loss from someone who on the surface of it had so much going for him. I do hope to gain a deeper appreciation for more of Nick Drake's albums and music. I actually discovered Nick Drake very late, maybe six years ago (not sure how he escaped my radar for so long, especially since there are quite a few folkies at this site and I've been very active here). I was Googling for music similar to Comus' "The Herald", and an article/ web page came up comparing Nick Drake's "River Man" to it -- it was adoration at first listen. I liked to pair "River Man" and "Fruit Tree" up with David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" and "Starman", for some reason. By the way, when I came up with my original list, but failed to save which was silly cause it took me a long time to put together, I had over 75 songs listed -- I do such things when I have insomnia which is most always (I stuck with one song per artist as is common with me). I was going to do thee polls, but that felt excessive and potentially spammy at the time. I did this again from scratch. Even 25 songs rather than albums or artists might seem very silly, because how many will recognise and remember many of the exact songs even if they would recognise the artists and the album names? I did include some big names that I know some here would have liked, like Jethro Tull, and despite LAM-SGC and us apparently being "worlds apart", Bert Jansch was one of the early ones I included and listed , and then I would have got my "Trouble" by Cat Stevens in -- I really love that, partially because I so love Harold and Maude, and the Neil Young, that I fugured some would miss (I ran out of space aphabetically), and it would have been "nice" (meaning pleasant rather than precise) to put together a modern one. And hen I got to include arious of my favourite relative obscurities such as These Trails -- I went with the, I think gorgeousness of "El Rey Pescador" over the psychedelic weirdness of " Psyche I / Share Your Water", which is what oringally got me to get the album. I would say that Drake's "River Man", Vashti Bunyan's "Winter is Blue", "Willow's Song" and Perry Leopold's "the Journey" (I adore the Christian Lucifer album, and that may well be my absolute favourite album in Prog Folk) are some of those that strike the biggest chord with me on the list, but obviously, it being my list, I really like them all. Along with the Forest, I'm rather surprised to see "Willow's Song" with no votes, perhaps it's because I didn't add "from The Wicker Man OST" to it in the poll even though I did in the list in my OP. Maybe I should have included "Gently Johnny", which these days I prefer still. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 26 2020 at 12:12
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I think we’re fairly similar when it comes to..well just about any style of music tinged with a little psych (or a LOT). Regarding folk with psych I invariably end up thinking of a dozen or so German albums, Emtidi being one of them. Also love Witthüser & Westrupp’s Trips und Träume and Der Jesuspilz. Very stripped down and acoustic at heart with rural German vocals and yet it’s the overall ambiences - the little stuff like the percussion instruments or the odd keys - transforming the music into this gentle cosmic vessel. Especially now with the sun and warmer weather this music just gels with me. If you haven’t figured it out yet, yes I am indeed listening to Trips und Träume right this minute. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: April 19 2020 at 12:13
Nick Drake...River Man Awesome Song imho...@dr Wu I vote for them too ------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music… < |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: April 20 2020 at 11:02
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^ I'm a Nick Drake fan....I have all of his lp's including that one of rarities released long after after he died. Remarkable songs, voice, and playing....what a shame about his dying(suicide?) so young. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |