Folkies IV

John F. Kennedy said, “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses” and that’s how I feel about folk music. My mother and many other children of the early ‘60s were originally drawn to folk’s truth, power, and purity- before Dylan and the Byrds went and combined it with rock & roll and changed the landscape of popular music. Every now and then I get in a folkie kind of mood and wish I knew the guitar as well as my mother so I could sing and play my favorite folk songs for my baby boy. Folk- like faith- gets passed down from parent to child and in this world of fads and phonies both can help keep you grounded.

Tracy Chapman

While it can be easy to make fun of folk’s moralizing, naivety, and self importance, at its best folk music stands for life, love, truth, humanity, freedom, conscience, and equality- and what jerk has a problem with those things? I’m partial to ‘60s folk revival but I’m always on the lookout for all kinds of good folk music although it’s getting harder and harder to find. As human persons we must always be ready to speak truth to power- folk does that. Here are some more of my favorite folk tunes including new folk, folk pop, urban folk, folk revival, and political folk & protest songs. It’s the return of the folkies. Enjoy!

Peter, Paul and Mary

01. Suzanne Vega – “Luka” (1987)

02. Tracy Chapman – “Bang Bang Bang” (1992)

03. Tracy Chapman – “Fast Car” (1988)

04. Peter, Paul and Mary – “If I Had a Hammer” (1962)

05. Ian & Sylvia – “Early Morning Rain” (1965)

06. Ian & Sylvia – “Four Strong Winds” (1963)

07. Peter, Paul and Mary – “500 Miles” (1962)

08. Peter, Paul and Mary – “Early in the Morning” (1962)

09. Arlo Guthrie – “The City of New Orleans” (1972)

10. Peter, Paul and Mary – “Don’t Laugh at Me” (1999)

11. Pete Seeger – “Oh, Susanna” (1958)

12. Peter, Paul and Mary – “Puff, the Magic Dragon” (1963)

13. Peter, Paul and Mary – “Leaving on a Jet Plane” (1967)

14. Joan Baez – “Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word” (1968)

15. The Brothers Four – “Greenfields” (1960)

16. Arlo Guthrie – “Lightning Bar Blues” (1972)

17. Justin Roberts – “Stay-At-Home Dad” (2008)

18. Loudon Wainwright III – “Motel Blues” (2008)

19. The New Christy Minstrels – “Green, Green” (1963)

20. Dar Williams – “When I Was a Boy” (1993)

Arlo Guthrie

Listen to the playlist on Spotify... 

... or check out songs from the playlist on YouTube

(To open music in separate window, click title bar at top of video box)

Recommended Links:

Inside Llewyn Davis – Trailer

A Mighty Wind – Trailer