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Can You Complete the Lyrics to These Traditional Folk Songs?

By: Stella Alexander

9 min

Can You Complete the Lyrics to These Traditional Folk Songs?

Image: jukejointjohnny48

About This Quiz

"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright"... to take this quiz! When it comes to mainstream music, you'll hear about pop, rock, and hip-hop. If you were to travel back to the mid-20th century, it was all about the folk revival. Performed by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel, the songs of the times would go on to become major folk classics. Can you complete their lyrics?

Although music has been around for thousands of years, the 20th century brought about a major change in the music scene. At the turn of the 20th century, patrons were introduced to jazz music. Country music would come about during the 1920s. Rock and roll grew during the 1950s, and the 1960s would bring about a new take on an old classic - folk music.

While its meaning might be a bit ambiguous, folk music can be described simply as music that's been played over a long period of time. Even with its ambiguous meaning, folk music always related to the history and culture of the people behind the story. This can be heard in songs like "This Land Is Your Land" and "City of New Orleans." Do you remember the stories behind some of the most popular folk music? Enough to complete the lyrics? Let's find out!

As I was walking that ribbon of highway / I saw above me that endless skyway

From the Redwood Forest, to the gulf stream waters

And saw below me that golden valley

"This Land Is Your Land" was originally written by Woody Guthrie in 1940. The song wouldn't be released until 1945 and is one of the most famous folk songs ever written.

The voice come chanting as the fog was lifting

And all around me, a voice was sounding

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How many roads must a man walk down / Before you call him a man / Yes, and how many seas must a white dove sail /

Before she sleeps in the sand

"Blowin' In the Wind" was originally recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962 before Bob Dylan released it. It was featured on his 1963 album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."

Before they're forever banned

The answer is blowing in the wind

How many times must cannonballs fly

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Saying "don't ya know me? I'm your native son / Yes, I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans /

And the rhythm of the rails is all they dream

You can feel the wheels grumbling through the floor

And the graveyards of rusted automobiles

And I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done

Steve Goodman released the song "City of New Orleans" in 1975 on the album "Judith." The song would go on to win a Grammy Award.

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I'd ring out danger / I'd ring out a warning

I'd sing it in the evening

I'd sing it in the morning

All over this land

I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters

Pete Seeger and Lee Hays wrote "If I Had a Hammer" in 1949 and it was performed by their band, The Weavers. It would go on to be performed by Peter, Paul and Mary.

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Where have all the young men gone? / Gone for soldiers every one / When will they ever learn?

Long time ago

Long time passing

When will they ever learn

The Kingston Trio are well-known for their recording of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." This was another song written by The Weavers singer, Pete Seeger.

Taken husbands every one

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Out on runway number nine / Big seven o seven set to go / Well I'm stuck here on the grass /

Where the pavement never grows

Gordon Lightfoot wrote and recorded the song "Early Morning Rain." the song appeared on his 1966 album "Lightfoot!"

Now the liquor tasted good

Hear the mighty engines roar

And the sun always shines

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And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind / And you think maybe you'll trust him

And she lets the river answer that you've always been her lover

They are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever

For you've touched her perfect body with your mind

Leonard Cohen wrote and recorded the song "Suzanne." The song first appears on his 1967 album "Songs of Leonard Cohen."

And just when you mean to tell her that you have no love to give her

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We shall overcome / We shall overcome / We shall overcome, some day /

Oh, deep in my heart

"We Shall Overcome" was another song written by singer-songwriter, Pete Seeger. Joan Baez's rendition would go on to become well-known in the genre.

We shall live in peace

We shall all be free

I do believe

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If I get there before the snow flies / And if things are goin' good / You could meet me if I sent you down the fare /

But our good times are all gone

But by then it would be winter

Originally written by Ian Tyson, the group Ian and Sylvia recorded the song "Four Strong Winds." It was released on their album "Four Strong Winds" in 1963.

And I'm bound for moving on

There ain't too much for you to do

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It's a lesson too late for the learning / Made of sand, made of sand / In the wink of an eye my soul is turnin' /

Without you, without you

Please don't go, please don't go

That was the last thing on my mind

In your hand, in your hand

Tom Paxton wrote and recorded "The Last Thing On My Mind," and the song appeared on his 1964 album "Ramblin' Boy."

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Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now / Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town / And they tell him

We can't return we can only look behind

We're capitve on the carousel of time

Take your time, it won't be long now

Joni Mitchell collaborated with L.A. Express for the song "The Circle Game." The song was released on Mitchell's 1970 album "Ladies of the Canyon."

And the seasons they go round and round

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Throughout history there have been many songs / Written about the eternal triangle

A beautiful woman, and a condemned man named Tom Dooley

This next one tells the story of a Mr. Grayson

In 1958, The Kingston Trio recorded the song "Tom Dooley" about a 1866 North Carolina murder. The song appeared on their self-titled album.

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley

This time tomorrow reckon where I'll be

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But now they only block the sun / They rain and snow on everyone / So many things I would have done /

I've looked at clouds that way

But clouds got in my way

"Both Side Now" was originally recorded in 1968 by Judy Collins. Joni Mitchell would go on to record her own version and release it on her 1969 album "Clouds."

I really don't know clouds at all

I've looked at love that way

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Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving / But how can they know it's time for them to go /

Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving

But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving

So come the storms of winter and then

Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming

Sandy Denny wrote and recorded "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" in the late 1960s. She would then join forces with The Strawbs to record the song for her 1973 album "All Our Own Work."

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Last Saturday night I got married / Me and my wife settle down / Now me and my wife are parted /

I'll see you in my dreams

To jump in the river and drown

I'm gonna take another stroll in town

"Goodnight, Irene" was first recorded in 1943 by Leadbelly. The Weavers would go on to record the song and release it on their 1957 album "The Weavers at Carnegie Hall."

Irene, goodnight

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And he's fighting for Canada / he's fighting for France

And he's fighting for the Russians

And he's fighting for Japan

He's fighting for the USA

"Universal Soldier" was written by Buffy Sainte-Marie and appeared on the 1964 album "It's My Way!"

And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

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So long honey babe / Where I'm bound, I can't tell / Goodbye is too good a word, babe /

I can't hear ya any more

So I just say fare thee well

Bob Dylan wrote the song "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" in 1962. The song was recorded and released on his 1963 album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."

Look out your window and I'll be gone

But don't think twice, it's all right

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Well you burst on the scene / Already a legend / The unwashed phenomenon /

A booth in the midwest

The original vagabond

Joan Baez wrote "Diamonds & Rust" in 1974. She recorded the song and released it in 1975 on her same-titled album.

And you happened to call

Now you're smiling out the window

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And in the naked light I saw / Ten thousand people, maybe more / People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

Paul Simon wrote the song "The Sound of Silence" during the early 1960s and would go on to perform it as his duo, Simon & Garfunkel. The song appeared on the 1964 album "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M."

People writing songs that voices never share

And the vision that was planted in my brain

No one dare disturb the sound of silence

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The ship was the pride of the American side / Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin / As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most

When the gales of November came slashin'

With a crew and good captain well seasoned

Gordon Lightfoot wrote "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in 1975 and recorded it that same year. The song was released on his 1976 album "Summertime Dream."

They might have split up or they might have capsized

When they left fully loaded for Cleveland

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You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant / You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant

Walk right in, it's around the back

"Alice's Restaurant" is a song that was recorded and performed by Arlo Guthrie. At over 18 minutes long, this song appears on his 1967 album named after the song.

We got up there, we found all the garbage in there

We didn't find one until we came to a side road

That's what we did and drove back to the church

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A time to be born, a time to die / A time to plant , a time to reap

A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to gain, a time to lose

A time to rend, a time to sew

A time to kill, a time to heal

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" was another song written by Pete Seeger. The song was recorded and released on the 1965 album by The Birds.

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Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail / Jackie kept a lookout perched on puff's gigantic tail

Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came

Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton collaborated to write the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon." Peter Yarrow would bring the song to his group, Peter, Paul and Mary to record. They released it on the 1963 album "Peter, Paul and Mary."

One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more

And puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

And brought him strings and sealing wa and other fancy stuff

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Then tell me of the ones you saw / As far as you could see / Across the plains from field to town

And maybe I can try

Lookin' for the evenin'

Marchin' to be free

Eric Andersen wrote the song "Thirsty Boots" in the early 1960s. He released it on his 1967 album "'Bout Changes 'n' Things Take 2."

They look like you and me

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And there but for fortune, may go you or I / Show me the alley, show me the train / Show me a hobo who sleeps in the rain

There but for fortune, may go you or go I

Show me the whiskey stains on the floor

And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why

Phil Ochs wrote the song "There But For Fortune" in the mid-1960s and released the song on his live 1968 album "There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968."

Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall

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"It's gone away in yesterday / Now I find myself on the mountainside / Where the rivers change direction /

And it was one that happened so long ago

Across the Great Divide

The song "Across the Great Divide" was originally recorded by artist Katie Wolf.

But he's gone across the borderline

The finest hour that I have seen

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"Like my father before me, I will work the land / Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand

He was just eighteen, proud and brave

Robbie Robertson wrote "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and the song would go on to be recorded by The Band. It was released on their 1969 self-titled album.

The night they drove old Dixie down

Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest

But they should never have taken the very best

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When Amsterdam is golden in the summer / Margaret brings him breakfast, she believes him

He's mad as he can be, Margaret only sees that sometimes

That's a secret only Margaret knows

He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow

Michael Peter Smith wrote the song "The Dutchman" in 1968 which was later recorded by Steve Goodman. The latter released the song on his 1972 album "Somebody Else's Troubles."

Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes

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Lord Donald's wife came into the church, the gospel for to hear / And when the meeting it was done, she cast her eyes about /

Little Matty Groves, he lay down and took a little sleep

And there she saw little Matty Groves, walking in the crowd

"Matty Groves" is an old English song that was first heard during the 1600s. Fairport Convention recorded the song and released it on their 1969 album "Liege & Lief."

How do you like my lady who lies in your arms asleep

But you will have the better of them and I will have the worst

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California and Arizona, I make all your crops / And Its North up to Oregon to gather your hops /

Dig the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine

Woody Guthrie wrote "Pastures of Plenty" in 1941. The song would go on to be recorded by other artists such as Bob Dylan.

To set on your table your light sparkling wine

And your deserts were hot and your mountain was cold

My land I'll defend with my life if it be

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And when the young man's fancy was turnin' to the spring / The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring

And many a fortune lost and won and may a debt to pay

All up through the seaports and into their hands

Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day

"Canadian Railroad Trilogy" was written by Gordon Lightfoot. The song was released on his 1967 album "The Way I Feel."

For they looked in the future and what did they see

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He was a pal and a friend always / We rambled 'round in the hard ol' days / He never cared if I had no dough /

May all your rambles bring you joy

They took the only friend I ever had

So here's to you my ramblin' boy

We rambled 'round in the rain and snow

"Ramblin' Boy" was written by Tom Paxton in the early 1960s. The song was released on his debut album "Ramblin' Boy" in 1964.

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Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more / She sits and stares through the back door screen

And Joe is somewhere on the road

And all the news just repeats itself

John Prine wrote the song "Hello In There" which he released on his 1971 self-titled album.

Someday I'll go and call up Rudy

And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore

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Rise again, rise again / Let her name not be lost to the knowledge of men /

And with every jar that hit the bar

Those who loved her best and were with her 'til the end

Stan Rogers wrote "The Mary Ellen Carter" during the late 1970s. He would release the song on the album "Between the Breaks ... Live!" which came out in 1979.

Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

But we talked of her all winter

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Tell her to make me a cambric shirt / Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme / Remember me to one who lives there

Without no seam or needlework

Between the salt water and the sea strand

For once she was a true love of mine

"Scarborough Fair" is an old English song that Martin Carthy would go on to record for his self-titled 1965 album.

Tell her to find me an acre of land

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