Condensing a global catalogue of folk songs into a top-15 list is quite the challenge. I’d go as far as to say it’s pretty much impossible without leaving out scores of contenders and making people cross. Still, needs must. Here is my tuppence-worth on (some of) the world's best folk songs.
Favourite folk songs
Auld Lang Syne (Scotland)
Probably the most famous Scottish song of all time, ’Auld Lang Syne’ was written by Robert Burns in 1788 as an affirmation of brotherhood and the importance of continued tradition. Since then, it has become an integral part of New Year’s Eve around the world, with revellers crossing arms and singing it in unison to herald in the new year. That said, it also does sterling service throughout the rest of the year, regularly belted out at graduations, funerals, the BBC Proms, and basically any event that gives us a half-decent excuse to indulge our inner sentimentalist.
Greensleeves (England)
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding this folk song. Many believe that Greensleeves was composed by King Henry VIII for his lover and future Queen Consort Anne Boleyn. This despite the fact that it's based on an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until after Henry VIII's death. Others argue about its meaning, with some insisting that Greensleeves was a prostitute ('green' being a word with sexual connotations that often referred, at the time, to the grass stains on a woman's clothes from having sex outdoors).
Whatever your take, it is undeniably one of the most enduringly popular and best English folk songs. It's also been regularly harnessed over the years by artists from all sorts of disciplines. These range from the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams to the team behind the American television series Lassie.
Kalinka (Russia)
’Kalinka’ is widely considered to be the most popular Russian folk song. It was written in 1860 by the composer and folklorist Ivan Laringov and first performed in Saratov, southeastern Russia, as part of a theatrical entertainment. While the word ‘Kalinka’ literally translates as ‘little berry’, the song has been interpreted in sorts of ways.
Some see it as a metaphor for the natural beauty of young women; others view it as a traditional love song. Catchy and vigorous, with a refrain that gets quicker with each repetition, it is often used in computer games, in particular Tetris, which, like the music, gradually speeds up to the point where it is pretty much unplayable.
This Land is Your Land (USA)
Written by American singer Woody Guthrie in 1940, 'This Land is Your Land' was intended as a critical response to Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America'. Guthrie originally gave it the sarcastic title of 'God Blessed America for Me’.
But, following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he returned to supporting the US and its involvement in Europe, renaming his song in the process and dropping verses that were critical of the United States. Nowadays it is often dubbed as an alternative US national anthem.
Danny Boy (Ireland)
Nobody is quite sure who Danny actually is, or what this song is about. Some say it’s a message from a parent to a son going to war. Others see it as a song for the Irish diaspora, who were displaced from their country. And it’s a popular choice for funerals, having been played at the funerals of Princess Diana and Elvis Presley, among others. Charlie McKenna, A retired Irish American police officer from Rhode Island, once said: ‘I want ‘Danny Boy’ sung at my funeral mass, and if it isn’t, I’m going to get up and walk out.’
Either way, there’s something about the song’s sense of yearning for home, as well as its uplifting hopefulness, that resonates with a lot of people. Set to the traditional Irish melody of Londonderry Air, ‘Danny Boy’ has come to acquire iconic status in Ireland; many see it as an unofficial Irish national anthem. So it’s easy to forget that its lyrics were written in 1910 by an English lawyer: Frederic Weatherly.
'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' ('Land of my Fathers’) (Wales)
Whether you think of it as Wales’s unofficial national anthem, or simply as the best rugby song ever, it’s hard to listen to 'Land of my Fathers' without feeling proud to be Welsh (or wishing you were a bit Welsh). The words were written by the Pontypridd-based poet Evan James and set to a tune composed by his son, the composer and harpist James James. Though composed as a dance tune, it eventually caught on as an anthem for singing by large crowds - necessitating a time signature change from 6/8 to 3/4.
La Vie en Rose (France)
It may not technically be a folk song, but ‘La Vie en Rose’ is so emblematic of French culture that it qualifies, at the very least, as an honorary folk song. Edith Piaf’s lyrics, which she wrote in 1945, spoke to the hearts of those who had suffered during the Second World War, expressing the joy of finding true love: ‘When you press me to your heart / I'm in a world apart / A world where roses bloom / And when you speak, angels sing from above /Everyday words seem to turn into love songs.’
That such words could come from Piaf is striking: abandoned at birth by her mother, the French crooner spent much of her youth growing up in a brothel. At 17 she had a child out of wedlock and went on to have a string of failed romances, as well as various drug and alcohol dependencies.
All of which, adds to the poignancy of this song, whose heartfelt optimism is as touching now as it ever was.
Die Lorelei (Germany)
Arguably the most famous of German folk songs - at least in the English-speaking world - Die Lorelei speaks of a siren who lures hapless sailors to their deaths. It was written as a poem by the Jewish-German poet Henrich Heine in 1827 and set to music by Friedrich Silcher.
Heine’s Germany, however, was unapologetically antisemitic and, under the Nazi regime, attempts were made to suppress his work - unsuccessfully: by then his poems were so well loved, and so firmly embedded in German culture that even the Nazis couldn’t bring themselves to ban them. So instead they simply removed Heine’s name, registering their author as ‘Unknown’.
This tender, romantically tragic song is a sure example of Heine’s poetic mastery.
Hej Sokoły! (Poland)
Popular among Polish soldiers during the Polish-Soviet War, this Polish-Ukrainian song is a real ear worm, probably because it is short and powerful. Though written by the Polish composer Maciej Kamińsk, it tells of a Ukrainian Cossack leaving his home and saying good bye to his girlfriend and to his homeland. As such, it is regularly sung in both Ukraine and Poland, and has become a symbol of the historic ties between the two countries.
Teče voda, teče (Czech Republic)
Allegedly a favourite of Tomáš Masaryk - the first president of Czechoslovakia who served from 1918 to 1935 - this beautiful Czech folk song is sung from the perspective of a young woman who has been abandoned by her lover. Originating from Moravia (the Czech region sandwiched between Bohemia and Slovakia), it is written in an old Moravian dialect, whose gentle lilt complements the melody’s sense of melancholy.
Oi, u haiu pry Dunaiu (Ukraine)
For some Ukrainians, the Danube plays the same role as the River Styx does for the Greeks. It certainly seems to in 'Oi, u haiu pry Dunaiu' ('In the grove, by the Danube'), a song of mourning about the death of a lover. The music is highly evocative, as are the lyrics, which mingle images of death and mourning with symbols of freedom (’In the forest near the Danube river, I am standing all alone, crying. I want to fly like a bird to where my lover is now. And the nightingale is singing.’).
Qongqothwane / The Click Song (South Africa)
A traditional song of the Xhosa people in South Africa, Qongqothwane is regularly sung at weddings to bring good fortune. Its title literally means ‘knock-knock beetle’, which is a popular name for various species of darkling beetles that make a distinctive knocking sound by tapping their abdomens on the ground. Believed by the Xhosa to bring good luck and rain, they are the symbolic heroes of this joyous, rhythmically inventive song.
Guantamera (Cuba)
Based on a poem by the poet José Martí, this very famous Cuban folk song is about the Guantánamo region in Cuba. But it has nothing to do with the U.S. military base on the island. Its melody goes back two centuries, while its lyrics tell the story of a girl from Guantanamo through the point of view of a Cuban revolutionary.
Though long popular in Cuba, this song really caught on internationally when the US folk singer Pete Seeger came across it, fell in love with it and started playing it for US audiences in 1962. The timing was spot on: as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Guantamera became a kind of anthem for peace. Nowadays the song retains its popularity, thanks to its catchy melody and rhythm.
Mō Lì Huā / Jasmine Flower (China)
Composed in the 18th century during the Quing dynasty (AD 1616-1912), this simple tribute to the beauty of the Jasmine flower was one of the first Chinese songs to become popular abroad. Giacomo Puccini adapted it for his 1926 opera Turandot. More recently it was played at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, and has been covered by singers including Celine Dion and Song Zuying.
