Joan Baez circa 2008 (Loona/Abaca Press/TNS)
Whether it was the lilting soprano voice of Joan Baez or the tinny banjo of Pete Seeger, folk music has largely defined historical times of social turmoil. It’s an expansive genre with songs detailing the workers’ union struggle of the thirties all the way to the Vietnam War in the sixties.
It goes without saying that we live in a time of intense political and social tension. There’s countless things to be angry about, which means there’s countless things to write folk songs about. Where is the Woody Guthrie of our generation? Who will write the much-needed protest songs?
Is folk music a relic from a bygone era, lost in favor of more modern genres, or could it make a comeback?
First, it’s important to take a look at what defines the American folk genre itself. Folk music began as oral tradition—songs passed down through families or communities through word of mouth alone.
These easily memorable songs are embedded in multiple cultures across centuries. For example, “We Shall Overcome,” a folk song popularized by Pete Seeger in the late fifties, traces its origins back to enslaved Black people who would sing a version of the song combined with gospel music.
Later, folk music set itself apart from mainstream music with political lyrics. This isn’t to say folk is the only genre to ever get political, but it’s what the genre was most known for.
Folk music was also known for connecting strongly with working class people. Folk songs were about the struggles of the average American, and they were often sung by people who experienced these struggles firsthand.
The sixties and seventies shifted folk music into the public eye more than ever before. It wasn’t just an underground genre on the outskirts of pop culture anymore; it topped charts and sold out festivals.
Songs like “Tear the Fascists Down” by Woody Guthrie and “Draft Dodger Rag” by Phil Ochs didn’t fall in with the psychedelic rock or twanging country of the period, but they were popular nonetheless.
These songs were a sign of the times. They immortalized the social upheaval of the era and became a way to rebel and protest against the powers that be.
Fast forward fifty years or so, and the powers that be are as ominous as ever. Where’s the folk genre when we need it?
One explanation for this supposed lack is the theory that other genres have taken up the mantle and now provide us with what folk music once gave us. When people think of folk, they may think of acoustic guitars and banjos. However, the instruments don’t matter as much as the lyrical content.
Folk music is all about reflecting the American experience. Plenty of modern artists are doing that, even if they don’t sound like the next Bob Dylan.
A recent Grammy winner, “Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé, is an album which focuses on being Black in modern America. Songs like “YA YA” touch on the working class experience specifically.
Smaller artists like Sofia Isella also fill the gap left behind by folk music. In her song “Us and Pigs,” Isella criticizes the way America treats women and their reproductive rights.
Although not many artists today sound like the folk music from decades long past, the spirit is just as alive as ever. To me, it doesn’t matter what genre these songs take on, as long as artists are still writing about their anger toward the world we live in.
The folk genre itself isn’t necessarily dead, though. Artists like Lizzy McAlpine and Noah Kahan have a recognizably folk sound, even if their lyrical content doesn’t carry the same political themes the genre was popularized for.
A select few artists remind me of the iconic folk troubadours of the sixties and seventies. One would be Hozier, whose Grammy-nominated song, “Take Me to Church,” was a protest of homophobia in the Catholic church.
Another one would be Jesse Welles, a smaller artist popularized on Tik Tok with songs like “War Isn’t Murder” and “Whistle Boeing.”
A song like “what are you praying for?” by Marieke Liebe is particularly reminiscent of the sixties folk era not only on account of the song’s sound, but also it’s message. The song is a protest against the Palestinian genocide, and the sentiment is hauntingly similar to songs of the sixties protesting the Vietnam War.
Like every other genre, folk music has evolved and shifted through the decades. It’s nowhere near as popular as it once was, but its core messages echo through all genres of music today.
As long as there are atrocities and inequalities in the world, artists will make art about them. Songwriters will sing about them in their respective genres, and these songs will rally people together. If that’s not keeping the spirit of folk music alive, I’m not sure what is.