3 Folk Songs That Are Actually Covers (But Were Made Famous by These Iconic Singers)

Folk songs are a special genre of music because of the way they get passed down from one generation to the next. With that fact in mind, it should come as no surprise that some of the best folk songs are covers. Here are three folk hits that gained a new surge of popularity when they were covered by popular artists.

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“We Shall Overcome” by Joan Baez

Joan Baez introduced this song to audiences during the civil rights movement. However, it was actually written and first sung in the 40s by Pete Seeger. Although the song became popular after Baez performed it at the March for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Seeger had already performed “We Shall Overcome” for Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957.

Since then, the song has been adopted by movements around the world, according to Britannica. Some of these include the South Korean Gwangju Uprising in 1980 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany.

“Scarborough Fair/Canticle” by Simon & Garfunkel

The origins of “Scarborough Fair” actually date back to the seventeenth century. Its original writers are unknown, as the song has been passed down over hundreds of years. The person who introduced the song to Simon & Garfunkel, however, was Martin Carthy, a British folk singer.

Simon & Garfunkel successfully re-popularized this song in 1967, when “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” appeared throughout the movie The Graduate. The duo also drew further inspiration from the song’s lyric “Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.“ They chose this as the title for their third studio album.

“Both Sides, Now” by Judy Collins

Judy Collins made this song her own when she released it in 1967, as a track off her album, Wildflowers. Real fans of the track know that it was actually first penned by Joni Mitchell, who later released her own version. According to Collins, the success that she had with “Both Sides, Now” ended up causing tension between her and Mitchell.

“I remember hearing something about Joni not liking my version of the song, but I couldn’t care less,” Collins once told Vulture. “I’m sure she feels that way about a lot of people who sing her songs. I’m sorry she didn’t have the hit, but I’m sure glad I did!” 

She continued, “I think she’s a little jealous, but with her history of being this brilliant songwriter, she has no right to actually feel that way.”

Photo by: David Redfern/Redferns