Best Folk Songs of All Time

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   Blowin' in the Wind

   Bob Dylan · from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

   The question-song that became an anthem.

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   The Boxer

   Simon & Garfunkel · from Bridge over Troubled Water (1970)

   A storytelling masterpiece with a roaring refrain.

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   Pink Moon

   Nick Drake · from Pink Moon (1972)

   Two minutes of hushed, fragile beauty.

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   A Case of You

   Joni Mitchell · from Blue (1971)

   Confessional songwriting at its peak.

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   Heart of Gold

   Neil Young · from Harvest (1972)

   His only US number one, warm and searching.

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   Suzanne

   Leonard Cohen · from Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)

   Poetic, image-rich folk that opened his career.

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   Father and Son

   Cat Stevens · from Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

   A generational dialogue in song.

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   Fire and Rain

   James Taylor · from Sweet Baby James (1970)

   Gentle, devastating singer-songwriter craft.

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   Hallelujah

   Jeff Buckley · from Grace (1994)

   The definitive reading of Cohen's hymn.

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    White Winter Hymnal

    Fleet Foxes · from Fleet Foxes (2008)

    A circular, harmony-drenched round.

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    Skinny Love

    Bon Iver · from For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)

    Raw falsetto heartbreak from a winter cabin.

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    Fast Car

    Tracy Chapman · from Tracy Chapman (1988)

    A vivid story-song of escape and hope.

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    Blowin' in the Wind

    Bob Dylan · from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

    The question that gave a generation its language.

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    The Circle Game

    Joni Mitchell · from Ladies of the Canyon (1970)

    The childhood-to-adulthood arc, perfectly condensed.

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    The Sound of Silence

    Simon & Garfunkel · from Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964)

    A poem and a melody that refused to be forgotten.

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    River Man

    Nick Drake · from Five Leaves Left (1969)

    Harry Robinson's string arrangement around Drake's guitar — devastating.

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    Diamonds & Rust

    Joan Baez · from Diamonds & Rust (1975)

    The most elegant break-up song in folk music.

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    Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

    Fairport Convention · from Unhalfbricking (1969)

    Sandy Denny's voice against Richard Thompson's guitar: the whole of English folk.

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    Take Me Home, Country Roads

    John Denver · from Poems, Prayers and Promises (1971)

    The state song West Virginia never officially voted for.

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    Wild World

    Cat Stevens · from Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

    The gentlest kiss-off in the songbook.

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    A Case of You

    Joni Mitchell · from Blue (1971)

    The most intimate love song in her catalogue.

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    The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

    Gordon Lightfoot · from Summertime Dream (1976)

    Six minutes of nautical ballad that earns every second.

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