This list was created by aggregating more than 20 lists focused on folk and/or folk rock music. All those songs appearing on 3 or more lists were ranked first based on their aggregate scores. Then all songs appearing on 2 lists were ranked based on their overall status in Dave’s Music Database (“Maggie May” is the first song on 2 lists).
When a title appeared by more than one artist, the highest version of the song is listed first but other versions which appeared on 2+ lists are listed as part of the same entry.
Also, this list is focused just on songs released through 1979. To see songs from 1980 on, check out “The Top 100 Modern Folk Songs.”
Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.
Songs on 3+ Lists Ranked by Aggregate Scores:
1. The Byrds (1965), Bob Dylan (1965) “Mr. Tambourine Man”
2. Pete Seeger (1962), The Kingston Trio (1962), Joan Baez (1965) “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
3. Simon & Garfunkel “The Sounds of Silence” (1965)
4. The Byrds (1965), Judy Collins (1969), Pete Seeger (1959) “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)
5. Woody Guthrie (1940), The Weavers (1958) “This Land Is Your Land”
6. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
7. Pete Seeger (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1962), Trini Lopez (1963) “If I Had a Hammer”
8. The Weavers (1950), Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter (1933) “Goodnight Irene”
9. Judy Collins (1968), Joni Mitchell (1969), Dave Van Ronk (1969) “Both Sides Now”
10. The Kingston Trio “Tom Dooley” (1958)
11. Bob Dylan (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963) “Blowin’ in the Wind”
12. Simon & Garfunkel “Scarborough Fair” (1966)
13. Barry McGuire “Eve of Destruction” (1965)
14. Peter, Paul & Mary “Puff the Magic Dragon” (1963)
15. The Mamas & Papas “California Dreamin’” (1966)
16. Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
17. Arlo Guthrie “Alice’s Restaurant” (1967)
18. Leonard Cohen “Suzanne” (1967)
19. Donovan “Catch the Wind” (1965)
20. Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth” (1966)
21. Simon & Garfunkel “Homeward Bound” (1966)
22. Bob Dylan “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1964)
23. Townes Van Zandt “Pancho and Lefty” (1972)
24. The Lovin’ Spoonful “Do You Believe in Magic?” (1965)
25. The Youngbloods “Get Together” (1967)
26. Bobby Bare (1962), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963), Joan Baez (1965) “500 Miles”
27. Joan Baez “Diamonds and Rust” (1975)
28. Phil Ochs “I Ain't Marchin’ Anymore” (1965)
29. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (1969)
30. Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue” (1975)
31. The Band (1969), Joan Baez (1971) “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
32. Pete Seeger “We Shall Overcome” (1963)
33. The Byrds “My Back Pages” (1967)
34. Scott McKenzie “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)” (1967)
35. The Turtles “It Ain't Me Babe” (1965)
36. Bob Dylan (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963) “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
37. Joan Baez (1965), Phil Ochs (1963) “There But for Fortune”
38. The Stanley Brothers (1950), Bob Dylan (1962) “Man of Constant Sorrow”
39. Steve Goodman “City of New Orleans” (1971)
40. Bob Dylan “Just Like a Woman” (1966)
41. Tim Hardin (1967), Bobby Darin (1966) “If I Were a Carpenter”
42. Gordon Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976)
43. Janis Ian “At Seventeen” (1975)
44. We Five “You Were on My Mind” (1965)
45. Donovan “Sunshine Superman” (1966)
46. The Beatles “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” (1965)
47. Country Joe & the Fish “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” (1967)
48. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
49. Joni Mitchell “Woodstock” (1970)
50. Peter, Paul & Mary (1964), traditional (1865) “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
51. Buffy Sainte-Marie (1964), Donovan (1965) “The Universal Soldier”
52. Traditional “The Water Is Wide” (1906)
53. Tom Paxton “The Last Thing on My Mind” (1964)
54. Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter (1940), Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969) “The Midnight Special”
55. Eric Andersen “Thirsty Boots” (1966)
56. Simon & Garfunkel “Mrs. Robinson” (1968)
57. The Grass Roots “Let’s Live for Today” (1967)
58. Gordon Lightfoot “Early Morning Rain” (1966)
59. Lonnie Donegan (1956), Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter (1942) “Rock Island Line”
60. The Highwaymen (1961), traditional (1867) “Michael Row the Boat Ashore”
61. Big Bill Broonzy “John Henry” (1951)
62. Tom Paxton “Ramblin’ Boy” (1964)
63. Roy Acuff (1938), J.A. Roff (1882) “Wabash Cannonball”
64. The Rooftop Singers “Walk Right In” (1962)
65. The Turtles “Happy Together” (1967)
66. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Marrakesh Express” (1969)
67. Simon & Garfunkel “The Boxer” (1969)
68. The Lovin’ Spoonful “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice” (1965)
69. The Mamas & the Papas “Monday Monday” (1966)
70. John Prine “Angel from Montgomery” (1972)
71. Joni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970)
72. Bob Dylan “Masters of War” (1963)
73. The Lovin’ Spoonful “Summer in the City” (1966)
74. John Prine “Hello in There” (1971)
75. Trini Lopez (1965), Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) “Lemon Tree”
76. The Weavers “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” (1951)
77. Neil Young “Old Man” (1972)
78. Jerry Jeff Walker “Mr. Bojangles” (1968)
Songs on 2+ Lists Ranked by Overall DMDB Points:
79. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
80. The Beatles “In My Life” (1965)
81. Neil Young “Heart of Gold” (1972)
82. Sonny & Cher “I Got You Babe” (1965)
83. The Carter Family “Wildwood Flower” (1928)
84. America “A Horse with No Name” (1971)
85. The Carter Family “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” (1935)
86. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Ohio” (1970)
87. Bob Dylan “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (1965)
88. Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1947)
89. Harry Belafonte “Banana Boat (Day-O)” (1957)
90. The Searchers “Needles and Pins” (1964)
91. Bob Dylan “Positively 4th Street” (1965)
92. Donovan “Mellow Yellow” (1966)
93. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Teach Your Children” (1970)
94. Bob Dylan “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (1966)
95. America “Ventura Highway” (1972)
96. The Lovin’ Spoonful “Daydream” (1966)
97. The Who “The Kids Are Alright” (1965)
98. Bob Dylan “I Want You” (1966)
99. Peter, Paul & Mary (1969), John Denver (1969) “Leaving on a Jet Plane”
100. Love “Alone Again Or” (1967)
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First posted 4/19/2020; last updated 9/11/2022. | 
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