The 6 Most Iconic Folk Songs of All-Time

Though the term “folk music” goes back to the mid-19th century, its modern coinage typically refers to the post-war folk revivals in England and America—though it can also describe any indigenous traditional music. 

The American folk revival started in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1948 with Pete Seeger’s band, the Weavers, and quickly grew outward to embrace artists such as Bob Dylan, dustbowl troubadour Woody Guthrie, vocalist Odetta Holmes, harmonizing college kids the Kingston Trio, coffee-house icon Joan Baez and five-time Grammy winners Peter, Paul and Mary.

Britain experienced their own folk revival in the Sixties, reprising an earlier turn-of-the-century revival. Oddly, American folklorist Alan Lomax, who helped chronicle American roots music, wound up in England after the “red scare” and turned his attentions to traditional musics of England, Ireland, Scotland, and mainland Europe.

This dovetailed with a similarly inspired move by folk singer Peggy Seeger, Pete’s half-sister, who decamped to London and eventually met and married actor-turned-folk singer Ewan MacColl. Inspired by Lomax, MacColl started collecting songs and later opened the influential Ballads and Blues Club, which popularized the practice in England of local clubs only allowing traditional music of one’s own culture to be performed. 

1. “If I Had a Hammer,” Pete Seeger/Lester Hays (1949)

One of the most recorded songs in world history, this was meant as a protest song in the vein of “We Shall Overcome.” It was first performed in Peekskill, New York, at a progressive rally featuring actor/singer Paul Robeson that turned into a riot as cops turned a blind eye to roving troublemakers.

“There were some 15 piles of stones about the size of a baseball, which had been waist high, these stones, thousands of stones. And every car that came by got a stone – wham – at close range,” Seeger told NPR’s “Fresh Air” in 1984. 

Among the many people to cover “Hammer” include Leonard Nimoy, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Sam Cooke, and Martin Denny. Joan Baez once refused to perform it when Michelle Obama requested, saying “I’d [rather] hit myself on the head.” Peter, Paul and Mary’s reworked version is the one most remember after they landed a Top 10 hit and a Grammy for it. Trini Lopez took her version to No. 3 on Billboard a year later.

2. “This Land Is Your Land,” Woody Guthrie (1940/1945)

Woody Guthrie wrote this tune in response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” which was in heavy rotation on radio at the same time Guthrie was hitchhiking from L.A. to New York. It’s very similar melodically to the Carter Family tune “When the World’s on Fire,” and Guthrie didn’t do much with it until he recorded it five years later. It was covered during the folk revival by Seeger, Dylan, Trini Lopez, New Christy Minstrels, the Kingston Trio, Bing Crosby, and Raffi. 

[RELATED: We Asked AI What a Modern-Day Woody Guthrie Song Might Be Like – Here Are the Results]

When it was first performed, Guthrie cut two verses that challenged the idea of private property and how a country as rich as ours could leave people hungry: On the sign it said “No Trespassing” / but on the other side it didn’t say nothing / That side was made for you and me.

3. “Scarborough Fair/Canticle,” Simon and Garfunkel (1966)

It was originally transcribed from lead miner Tom Anderson by Ewan MacColl, and lyrically features a series of impossible endeavors tasked by a former lover to reclaim favor. Most know the version sung by Simon and Garfunkel on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, which takes its title from the song.

Simon learned it from Martin Carthy’s 1965 eponymous solo debut. Carthy also showed the song to Dylan, who subsequently used the melody for “Boots of Spanish Leather” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” However, if Mike Nichols hadn’t included the song in his 1967 movie The Graduate, it’s unlikely it would be the familiar hit it is today.

The song initially wasn’t properly credited, to Carthy’s great consternation,—an issue that occurred elsewhere on the same album, and popped up again to even greater furor on Graceland.

4. “Auld Lang Syne,” Robert Burns (1788) 

This nostalgic old song lingers on the past, and it’s got plenty of history to pull from, going back to a poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns from 1788. The title means,“days gone by,” and comes from a 1711 song by James Watson, albeit with a different melody. It became a New Year’s Eve standard thanks to Canadian big band leader Guy Lombardo, who began the tradition at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel as part of radio’s first nationwide New Year’s broadcast in 1929. 

5. “La Bamba” Ritchie Valens (1958)

Long popular among mariachis, “La Bamba” is a folk song in the son jarocho style indigenous to Veracruz, Mexico. The earliest version is credited to Alvaro Hernández Ortiz in the late thirties. It included an idiosyncratic dance introduced to New York in 1945 by dance studio impresario Arthur Murray. Ritchie Valens learned the song as a youth and released his rocking version as the B-side to “Donna,” which went to No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts. “La Bamba” peaked at No. 22 a few days after Valens’ death in the plane crash that also took the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly; Valens had only been recording for 10 months.

6. “Sloop John B,” The Beach Boys (1966)

This tune derived from a Bahamian song about a sunken boat. Many acts have recorded it over the years, including the Kingston Trio in 1958. Beach Boy Al Jardine thought his band should record it, too, though he had to figure out a way to win Brian Wilson over on the idea. 

“What I did was to sit down and play it for him in the Beach Boys idiom. I figured if I gave it to him in the right light, he might end up believing in it,” Jardine said. “So I modified the chord changes so it would be a little more interesting. The original song is basically a three-chord song, and I knew that wouldn’t fly.” 

The next day Wilson called Jardine back and played him the now-famous version most know. It was the second single from Pet Sounds and went to No. 3 on Billboard, No. 2 in the U.K., and No. 1 in seven other countries.

Photo: Legacy Recordings