Posted 1:05 PM by Bonnie

My TOP 10 list: Karl did a list of the top 10 punk albums, and Victoria did a list of the top 10 folk albums of the 60's and 70's. So, I decided to give this a try and list the top 10 vocalists or groups of the 60's and 70's who influenced me during that era and the one song of theirs, and a few of the lyrics to that song that really got me going or got to me in some way.

1. Janis Joplin: Me and Bobby Magee-

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothin' aint worth nothin' but it's free,
Feelin' good was easy Lord when Bobby sang the blues,
Feelin' good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and Bobby MaGee.

2. Joan Baez: Children of Darkness

For I am a wild and a lonely child
And the son of an angry man
Now with the high wars raging
I would offer you my hand
For we are the children of darkness
And the prey of a proud, proud land.

3. Bob Dylan: Mr. Tambourine Man

Then take me disapearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the lonely beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and their aint not place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
And in the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

4. Arlo Guthrie: City of New Orleans

All along the southbound odyssey,
The train pulls out at Kankakee,
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men,
And graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call the city of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

5. Joni Mitchell: A Case of You

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine,
You taste so bitter and so sweet,
Oh I could drink a case of you,
I could drink a case of you, darling,
And I would still be on my feet,
Oh I'd still be on my feet.

6. John Prine: Sam Stone

Sam Stone came home to his wife and family,
After serving in the conflict overseas,
and the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.

7. Pete Seeger: Guantanamera

Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crecen las palmas
You soy un hombre sincero
De donde crecen las palmas
Y antes de morirme quiero

(I am a truthful man,
From the land of the palm,
Before dying I want to
Share these poems of my soul)

Guantanamera! Guajira!
Guantanamera!
Guantanamera! Guajira!
Guantanamera!

8. Simon and Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence

In restless dreams I walk alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of an east street lamp
I turn my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes are stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sounds of silence.

9. Peter Paul and Mary: Listen, Mr. Bilbo (Mr. Bigot)

Now Mr. Bigot you're taking one hell of a chance,
Your good friends the Duponts came over from France.
Another thing I'm sure will be news to you,
The first Mr. Bigot was a foreigner too.

You don't like blacks: you don't like jews
Well, if there's anyone you do like it sure is news,
You don't like the Poles, Hispanics too
Anyway they serve you up, we don't like you!

10. And number 10 - not necessarily because it is my number 10 choice but because it sums it all up...those really were the days my friend...

Mary Hopkins: Those Were The Days, My Friend

Those were the days my friend,
We thought they'd never end,
We'd sing and dance forever and day,
We'd live the life we choose,
We'd fight and never lose,
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days.