1. Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

Of course, Joni Mitchell should not be missing from this list. Her musical influence on folk music is inestimable. Incidentally, Big Yellow Taxi has been covered very successfully several times by well-known music acts such as Amy Grant and The Counting Crows.^[1]

2. Karen Dalton - Something on Your Mind

Something on Your Mind by Karen Dalton is a 1971 folk song gem. In my opinion, it is important to hear the song from the beginning to the last second. Then the melancholy of the vocals and the music unfold in all their beauty.

3. Buffy Sainte-Marie - The Beauty Way

The Beauty Way by Buffy Sainte-Marie is the seventh track on her 1975 album Changing Woman. I noticed that the lyrics you find on the Internet for the song The Beauty Way seem to be those of another song. The Beauty Way can also be found on the 2010 song collection The Pathfinder - Buried Treasures as the second track on the second CD.

4. Judee Sill - The Kiss

The Kiss by Judee Sill appeared on her 1973 album Heart Food and is one of the top five most popular tracks on her Spotify artist profile. The composition combines various musical styles, including classical, folk and baroque pop, with gentle piano work and Sill's ethereal vocals. The song's themes revolve around mystical and spiritual concepts exploring the relationship between divine and mortal love, with imagery focusing on transcendence and spiritual awakening.
In the Judee Sill documentary Lost Angel: The Genius Of Judee Sill there are numerous Interviews with musicians such as Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Big Thief.^[2]

5. Judy Collins - Both Sides Now

Joni Mitchell found inspiration for her song Both Sides, Now when she read a passage in Saul Bellow's novel Henderson the Rain King on an airplane. The book describes how Henderson, who was also on a plane at the beginning of the book, looked out of the window and saw the clouds below him. Joni Mitchell then also looked out of the window and saw clouds below her. Finally, she began writing the song Both Sides, Now during the flight.^[3]

1967 Judy Collins' rendition of Both Sides, Now by Joni Mitchell was used in popular films and series, including the animated film Toy Story 4 and the series Mad Men. With Both Sides, Now Judy Collins won the 1969 Grammy for Best Folk Performance.^[4]

6. Joan Baez - Diamonds And Rust

The American singer-songwriter Joan Baez, also known as the Queen of Folk, confirmed in an interview that the lyrics to her 1975 song Diamonds and Rust were originally supposed to be about something completely different. When Bob Dylan called her at the beginning of her songwriting process, it ended up being about him because of the call. ^[5]
The lyrics of Diamonds and Rust describe Joan Baez's reflections on the past relationship with Bob Dylan. She recalls bittersweet memories, blending vivid imagery of their romantic and turbulent times. The folk song contrasts precious, diamond moments with the rust of time and regret, capturing the complexity and lingering impact of lost love.

7. Laura Nyro - Money

Laura Nyro was an American singer-songwriter and pianist known for her diverse genre blend of folk, pop, jazz, pop and soul. Songs such as Wedding Bell Blues, Eli's Comin' and Stoned Soul Picnic, which artists such as The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night and Blood, Sweat & Tears reinterpreted and released, became commercial successes. In 2012, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Money is the third track on her sixth studio album Smile, which she released in 1976.

8. Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

Released in 1969, Who Knows Where the Time Goes? by Fairport Convention is a typical British folk song that underlines the band's unique contribution to the folk-rock genre. The song was written by Sandy Denny and contains poetic expressions about the transience of time. e folk song has been covered by popular female artists in particular, here are some examples: Judy Collins, Nina Simone, Sinéad O'Connor and Susanna Hoffs. ^[6] Sandy Denny died in April 1978, she was only 31 years old.

10. Carole King - Sweet Seasons

12. Janis Ian - At Seventeen

13. Sibylle Baier - I Lost Something in the Hills

14. Vashti Bunyan - Train Song

15. Linda Ronstadt - You're No Good

16. Linda Perhacs - Hey, Who Really Cares

17. Bobby Gentry - Ode To Billie Joe

18. Kate Wolf - Across the Great Divide

19. Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train

20. Shirley Collins - Barbara Allen

22. Cass Elliot - Dream A Little Dream Of Me

23. Jackie DeShannon - What The World Needs Now Is Love 

24. Polly Niles - Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind

25. Phoebe Snow - Poetry Man (Live)

26. Malvina Reynolds - Little Boxes

27. Mary Travers - Follow Me

1. Braids - Evolution

The Canadian singer-songwriter Raphaelle Standell-Preston is involved in several music projects: Braids (band, 2006 - present), Blue Hawaii (music duo, 2010 - present) and her solo projects, including Indiensoci.

2. METRIC - Gimme Sympathy 

Emily Haines is the front woman of the 4-piece Canadian band Metric, which she founded together with James Shaw in 1998, initially as a musical duo under the name Mainstream.^[1]
Haines can also be heard as a vocalist on several albums by the Canadian band Broken Social Scene.

3. Feist - In Lightning

Feist is a Canadian indie pop and folk singer-songwriter who made it to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007 with her single 1234.^[2] Several of her tracks have also been played in scenes of well-known American TV series such as Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl.In a track review article in the online music magazine Pitchfork, the single In Lightning was described as follows: "“In Lightning,” the most striking of the three singles from Feist’s forthcoming album, Multitudes, is wonderfully ramshackle in a way that fits her milieu:...".^[3]

4. Austra - Lose It

Katie Stelmanis, the singer of the Canadian band Austra, is a classically trained vocalist.^[4] So it's not surprising that Katie's voice in Austra leaves a big impression on many when listening to her songs.
Katie Stelmanis released her debut single Believe Me under her own name in 2009.
Lose It, the second single from Austra's 2011 debut album Feel It Break, is the most popular Austra song to date.

5. Purity Ring - Better Off Alone (Alice Deejay Cover)

Megan James from the Canadian musical duo Purity Ring is a singer and music producer. Purity Ring describe their musical style as "future pop", although this musical label "doesn't mean anything" to them according to Megan James, as she revealed in a Pitchfork interview from 2015: "It just feels comfortable, and that’s nice when you’re defining yourself as an artist, because nothing is going to make sense or feel right. Hopefully it stays without meaning."^[5] 
In September 2020, Purity Ring released a cover version of the 90s Eurodance classic Better Off Alone by Dutch music project Alice Deejay.

6. Mélissa Laveaux - Needle In The Hay

The Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Mélissa Laveaux describes her music as "indie rock with electric Afro-Carib guitar stylings".^[6] 
As a child, Mélissa was inspired to play music by an image of Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “Without that, I wouldn’t have thought I could play music.”
^[7] 

7. College & Electric Youth - A Real Hero

The Canadian synth-pop duo Electric Duo, which consists of the singer-songwriter Bronwyn Griffin and the producer, songwriter and musician Austin Garrick, released the single A Real Hero together with the French music project College (David Grellier) in 2010. A Real Hero is the main musical theme for the 2011 American film Drive starring Ryan Gosling.
Bronwyn Griffin and Austin Garrick have known each other since their school days (sixth grade). Griffin is Garrick's girlfriend and both are also musical partners.^[8]

• Female band member: Bronwyn Griffin
• Song release date: 11 January 2010
• Origin: Toronto, Canada
• Label: Valerie

8. Stars - The Night Starts Here

9. Men I Trust - Billie Toppy

10. The New Pornographers - Challengers

11. U.S. Girls - 4 American Dollars

12. Billianne - Crush

13. The Weather Station - Atlantic

14. Alvvays - Dreams Tonite

15. Crystal Castles - Affection

Margaret Osborn aka Alice Glass released her debut solo album Prey//IV in 2022. She was the frontwoman and singer-songwriter in the Canadian band Crystal Castles for around eight years (2006 to 2014). Crystal Castles released the song Affection as the third single from their third studio album III in 2012.

16. Basia Bulat - Infamous

17. Tegan And Sara - Back In Your Head

18. Grimes - Oblivion

19. Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach

20. The Beaches - T-Shirt

22. Rah Rah - Prairie Girl

23. Princess Century - Desperate Love 

24. YOU SAY PARTY - Laura Palmer's Prom

25. Sook-Yin Lee & Adam Litovitz - Re-Veil

26. FRANKIIE - Funny Feelings

27. TOPS - Petals

28. Hannah Georgas - Evelyn

29. Shirley Hurt - Problem Child

David Bowie

David Bowie was already interested in Buddhist philosophy, practice and meditation before his big musical breakthrough. During this time, he is said to have considered becoming a Buddhist monk. His Buddhist teachers at the time saw his destiny, his path, rather beyond the monastery.^[1]

Buddha Of Suburbia

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette is meditating almost every morning.^[2] She performed during the opening of a speech with the spiritual leader of Tibet in exile, the Dalai Lama, at the Ottawa Civic Center on April 24, 2004 in Ottawa, Canada.^[3]

Joining You

The song Joining You by Alanis Morissette is about a dialog between two adults and has as its Buddhist theme the identification of people with their body and mind. The teenage girlfriend wants to make it clear to her friend that our identification with our body or mind is a misinterpretation and often leads to suffering sooner or later. Because both are subject to constant change and are not permanent.

k.d. lang

The Canadian singer-songwriter k.d. lang has considered herself to be a Buddhist from a very early age.^[3]

Constant Craving

In her great international success from 1992, the song Constant Craving, k.d. lang takes up an important concept in Buddhism: craving (in Pali language: taṇhā). Taṇhā appears in The Four Noble Truths and is one of the key origins of suffering (dukkha) in Buddhism.^[4]

Leonard Cohen

It needed three decades of zen teaching and the maturation of age, to put the musician in a neutral, monk-like state of mind.^[5] In a 2001 interview with the British daily newspaper THe Guardian, Leonard Cohen revealed: "When you stop thinking about yourself all the time, a certain sense of repose overtakes you. It happened to me by imperceptible degrees and I could not really believe it;".^[6]

Happens to the Heart

Tina Turner

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey (The Oprah Magazine: May 2005 issue), Tina Turner revealed how she came to Buddhism. The initial spark, so to speak, came from the remark "Buddhism will save your life", which someone said to her.^[7] The Buddhist faith gave Tina Turner the strength to separate from her husband Ike Turner in 1976, which she herself mentioned several times.^[8] 

Calling by Tina

Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Carlisle stated in her autobiography from 2010 that she had been practicing Nichiren Buddhism since 2002.^[2]

Leave A Light On

Macy Gray

Macy Gray gave several interviews in 2019 after the release of her album Ruby and explained the significance of the song Buddha, which is the first track on the album.

Buddha

Philip Glass

Metamorphosis: One