Just a few of each; if I had more, I'd make a whole page. Suggestions welcomed!
[acrobat, circus]
Walking On A Wire Richard & Linda Thompson
Richard Thompson's "The Great Valerio"
Patty Griffin's Trapeze
Katy Moffatt's "The Greatest Show on Earth" (later changed to Evangeline Cafe)
Carol Chapelle made a slightly risque record called "I Married an
Acrobat" sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. (covered recently by Dust Poets)
Paul Simon's "Graceland,"
Annie Gallup has two circus songs
Jonatha Brooke's, Back in the Circus
[addiction]
Tim Grimm\ Sam Stone\ Names\ Wind River
(or John Prine's original)
[agnostic]
Tom Paxton I Can’t Help But I Wonder Where I’m Bound
Iris DeMent - Let the Mystery Be - Infamous Angel
Lou & Peter Berryman - After Life Goes By - The Pink One
Susan Werner - Probably Not - The Gospel Truth
[airships, blimps, zeppelins, dirigibles, balloons]
Jeff Warner\ Come Take a Trip in My Airship\ Jolly Tinker\ Self
Charlie Poole\ Come Take A Trip in My Airship\ You Ain't Talking To Me\ Sony
[amputation]
Eric Bogle\ And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Guy Clark\ Soldiers Joy, 1864\ The Dark
[anorexia nervosa]
Cosy Sheridan - Iphigenia - The Pomegranate Seed
[anti-love]
Christine Lavin\ Happydance\ Happydance of the Xenophobe\ Yellow Tail
The Meat Purveyors\ Burr Under My Saddle\ Someday Things Will Be Much Worse\ Bloodshot
Bob Dylan\ Postively 4th Street
[astrology]
Kate Rusby\ Planets\ Awkward Annie\ Pure
Jen Spool\ Stargazer\ Soul Threads\ Wildplum
[atheist]
Utah Phillips - Pie in the Sky
Robbie Fulks - God isn't real
[Atlantis]
Andrew McKnight - Atlantis - Beyond Borders (Falling Mountain)
[banjo]
Cathy Fink w/Tony Trishka\ Banjo Pickin' Girl\ Banjo Talkin'\ Rounder
[basketball]
David Roth - The Dream - Irreconcilable Similarities - Wind River
[Bastille Day - July 14th]
Zoe Lewis - Bastille Day - Fishbone Wishbone Funnybone
Rush - Bastille Day
[billionaire]
John Hartford\ Howard Hughes' Blues\ Morning Bugle\ Rounder
[busking]
Pete Morton\ The Busker's Song\ Flying an Unknown Flag\ Harbour Town
Joni Mitchell\ For Free
{Cajun, zydeco]
Chubby Carrier\ Father of Fun\ Bayou Road\ Swampadellic
[Canadian provinces]
Laura Love\ Saskatchewan (Juneteenth)\ NeGrass\ Octoroon Biography
[cats]
My Old Cat by Heidi Muller on the CD Giving Back
Calico Cat by Marie-Lynn Hammond and Doug Bowes on the CD Marie-Lynn Hammond/Vignettes
Jamie Anderson / When Cats Take Over the World / Never Assume
Sylvia Herold & Euphonia\ Kitty and I\ Lovely Nancy\ Self
[children and parenting]
J.E Mainer's Mountaineers / Mama Don't Allow / Run Mountain
Rebel Voices\ Day Care\ Warning Women at Work\ Self
[circumcision]
Jess Grant / For My Foreskin / The Washington Waltz
[cocaine]
Dave Van Ronk / Cocaine Blues
Old Crow Medicine Show\ Tell It To Me\ O.C.M.S.\ Nettwerk America
[cooking]
Baking Pies by Patty Griffin
WB Reid & Bonnie Zahnow\ Chitlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County\ Duck Shoes\ Self
[Custer]
Jeffrey Foucalt\ Pearl Handled Pistol\ Stripping Cane\ Signature
[Dancing]
Jim Page\ I'd Rather Be Dancing\ Head Full of Pictures\ Self
Kristina Olsen\ Your Little Brother Sure Can Dance
[the great Depression]
Mary Flower\ Brother, Can You Spare A Dime\ Bywater Dance\ Yellow Dog
Joel Mabus\ Liza Jane\ The Banjo Monologues\ Fossil
[doctors, physicians, medicine]
Bowzer and Blue\ Where The Sun Don't Shine\ Humor For Boomers
(The colorectal surgeon's song)
Al Grierson\ Sunday Way Up Yonder\ Things That Never Added Up To Me\ Self
Dan Reeder\ You'll Never Surf Again\ Sweetheart\ Oh Boy
[elections]
Steve Goodman / The Essential Steve Goodman / Election Year Rag
Suffering Democrary / Ken Waldman
[Elvis Presley - about]
John Stewart\ I Want To Be Elvis
Rebecca Cohen\ 24-Hour Church of Elvis\ You Hung the Moon\ self
Scott & Michelle Dalziel\ I Think I Saw Elvis\ Thinking Out Loud\ Self
Gillian Welch\ Elvis Presley Blues\ Time (The Revelator)\ Acony
[email]
Carrie Newcomer\ Don't Push Send\ The Geography Of Light\ Philo/Rounder
[evolution]
Chris Smither\ Origin of Species\ Leave the Light On\ Signature
[farewell or closing songs]
Auld Lang Syne (of course)
The Voice Squad\ The Parting Glass
Rose Laughlin\ Red is the Rose\ Souvenir\ Self
[fishing]
Finest Kind\ Squid Jiggin' Ground\ Heart's Delight\ Fallen Angle
[flowers]
Creeping Time\ Rhododendrons\ Live 2002\ Self
[genealogy]
New River Line / Father's Family Tree / Chasing My Dreams / Kindred
Joel Mabus\ Cindy\ The Banjo Monologues\ Fossil
[great divide]
Kate Wolf / Across the Great Divide
Utah Phillips / Railroading on the Great Divide
Arlo Guthrie\ When The Cactus is in Bloom\ Arlo Guthrie\ Koch
[guns]
Cheryl Wheeler / If It Were Up To Me / Sylvia Hotel
[happiness]
Paul Anastasio & Tony Marcus\ I Want to be Happy\ Anything Goes!\ Self
[hats]
W.B. Reid & Bonnie Zahnow\ Stacker Lee\ Poca River Blues\ Self (Stetson)
[hello]
John Prine / Hello in There
Doc Watson with David Holt\ The Telephone Girl\ Legacy\ High Windy
[high school]
Jane Gillman & Darcy Deaville\ High School Vision\ Ways to Fly\ Flying Fish
Pat Donohue\ High School\ Life Stories\ Blue Sky
[horses]
Running Horae \ POCO \ King Easy Radio Sampler v 2 \ King Easy
Silver Palomino \ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN \ Devils & Dust \ Col
Thicker Than Water \ ANNIE GALLUP \ Pearl Street \ fifty/fifty
Luis \ KATE MCDONELL \ Where the Mangoes Ae \ Appleseed
Small Victory \ CHRIS VALLILLO \ The Dance \ Gin Ridge
Running Wile \ TOM T HALL \ For the People in the Last Hard Town \ Mercury
Jeffrey Foucault\ Secretariat
[hot foot]
Robert Johnson / Hellhound on my Trail
[hunting]
Gun Shy dog/ ROD PICOT / Girl from Arkansas \ Welding Rod
The Marksman \ SMALL POTATOES \ Alive \ Self
The Hunters \ SI KAHN \ We're Still Here \ Strictly Country
Jory Nash\ The Summer Hunter\ Folk Jazz Blues & Soul\ Thin Man
Grandpa Jones - Old Rattler/The Hunting's Over for Tonight/Old Troupe Dog/Uncle Eff's Gotta Coon/With Dog and Gun
Tennesse Ernie Ford - Shotgun Boogie
Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts\ Hunting the Hare\ Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts\ Compass
The Wilders\ Squirrel Hunters\ Throw Down\ Rural Grit
[hurricane]
Lori B\ Hurricane Child\ Hurricane Child\ Self
Steve Gillette\ The Eye of the Hurricane\ Texas & Tennessee\ Redwing
Richard Shindell\ Money for Floods\ Reunion Hill\ Shanachie
[immigration]
Woody Guthrie\ Deportee
Tom Russell\ Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?\ Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?\ HighTone
[insects]
Cephas & Wiggins\ Spider Woman\ Homemade\ Alligator
Antsy McClain\ Full Moon Nights in Pine View Heights\ Trailercana\ DPR (cicadas)
[jail, prison, incarceration]
Kamm & MacDonald - If I Could Fly - Fields of Elysian
Joe Giacoio\ Incarcerated Woman\ I Sing the Body Acoustic\ Romantic Devil
[kissing]
Reeltime Travelers\ Kiss Me Quick Papas Coming\ Livin' Reeltime, Thinkin' Old-Time\ Yodel-Ay-Hee
[Lewis & Clark]
Laura Love\ Shenandoah\ Fourteen Days\ Zoe
James Keelaghan\ Cold Missouri Waters\ Then Again\ Jericho Beach
Phil & Vivian Williams\ Fiddle Tunes of the Lewis & Clark Era\ Voyager (whole CD)
[life is short]
Mavlina Reynolds\ Turn Around (covered by many)
John Flynn\ Blink\ Two Wolves\ Metta Four
[lullabies]
Hilary Field & Patrice O'Neill\ Este Niño Lindo\ Siente\ Yellow Tail Records
Kris Delmhorst\ Lullaby 101\ Five Stories\ Catalyst
[melodica]
Victoria Vox\ Guilty\ And Her Jumping Flea\ Obus
Kelly Joe Phelps\ Tunesmith Retrofit\ Tunesmith Retrofit\ Rounder
Kim Townsend\ Green Chile Love Song\ Wayworn Traveler\ Pokey
[minstrel songs]
Jim Kweskin\ The Preacher and the Bear\ Side by Side\ Mountain Railroad
[mouth music]
The Bothy Band / Fionnghuala / Live in Concert / Green Linnet
Catherine Ann MacPhee\ Puirt - Ci'n Fhidheall etc.\ Looking Back\ Greentrax
[mythical creatures - mermaids, unicorns, etc.]
Baby Gramps\ Old Man of the Sea\ Victory Music Revue\ Victory
[native Americans, American Indians]
Daniel & Amy Carwile\ Chief Sitting Bull\ Col Arco\ Self
Diana Jones\ Pony\ My Remembrance of You\ Newsong
Marty Stuart\ Wounded Knee\ Badlands\ Universal South (whole CD)
Rebel Voices\ If You Can See Me\ A Piece of the Wall\ Self (Leonard Peltier)
Jim Page\ Song for Leonard Peltier\ Live at Folklife 1991\ Self
[nautical, boats, ships, ferries]
Jim Page\ The Whidbey Island Overwater Transfer Ferry Line\ Seattle Songs\ Self
Shanghaied on the Willamette\ Harbo and Samuelson\ Weighing Anchor\ Self
Grit Laskin\ When I Was a Lad\ Unabashedly Folk\ Borealis
[nothing]
Canote Bros.\ I've Got Nothin'\ Thinga-Ma-Jig\ Clone Tone
Robin Dale Ford\ Nothing More Than Nothing\ Ain't That Skippin' & Flyin'\ 10th Planet
[office]
Sam Bisbee\ Cubicle Love Song
[parenting]
Greg Brown\ You Might As Well Go To Sleep\ Bath Tub Blues\ Red House
Undertakin' Daddies\ Holding Things Together\ Devil in the Rearview\ Caribou
Kathy Kallick / Use a Napkin (Not your Mom)
Alan Jabbour & Ken Perlman\ Rocking the Babies to Sleep\ Southern Summits\ Self
[pirates]
Tanglefoot\ Successful Pirates/Traighli Bay\ Captured Live\ Borealis
[playing cards]
Bob Dylan\ Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts\ Blood on the Tracks
(also on Tom Russell's Indians CD)
Blind Lemon Jefferson\ Jack of Diamonds
[pop covers]
Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy\ Walk Away Renee\ Adieu False Heart\ Vanguard
[potatoes]
Rayna Gellert\ Great Big Taters in the Sandy Land\ Ways of the World\ Yadel-Ay-Hee
[president of usa]
Utah Phillps and Ani Difranco\ Candidacy\ The Past Didn't Go Anywhere\ Righteous Babe
[radio]
Hackensaw Boys\ Radio\ Look Out!\ Nettwerk
[robots]
Orville Johnson And Mark Graham\ Tennessee Robot\ Still Goin' Strong\ Self
[school and teachers]
David Roth\ Thank You Mr. Ryan\ Digging Through My Closet\ Folk Era
Mary Black / School Day's Over / Song For Ireland
The Old Schoolmaster,and The Old Schoolmistress. True songs about actual persons Can be found on The Kinfolk CD MEMORIES from Greenbrier Records.
[seduction]
Sylvia Herrold\ Let's Get Friendly
Del Rey\ Smoke a Cigarette First
[segue]
Utah Philips & Ani DiFranco\ Heroes\ The Past Didn't Go Anywhere\ Righteous Babe
Tim Grimm\ Pretty Boy Floyd\ Names (or any bank robber song)
Alison Younger / Lord Franklin / Yelp! (Mrs Ackroyd)
followed by James Keelaghan (any song)
Gibb Todd\ Where the Bangelows Are\ Goin' Home\ Compass
Del Rey\ A Bungalow in Bangalow\ X-Rey Guitar\ Hobemian
Anne Hills & Cindy Mangsen w/Dave Van Ronk\ Froggy Went A-Courting\ Never Grow Up\ Flying Fish
Bob Dylan\ Froggie Went A-Courtin'\ Gather Round (VA)\ Sony BMG
Dick Gaughan\ Waist Deep in the Big Muddy\ Where Have All The Flowers Gone (VA)\ Appleseed
Pat Humphries\ Swimming to the Other Side\ Same Rain\ Self
[shakespeare]
The Gibson Brothers\ Ophelia\ Long Way Back Home\ Sugar Hill
[silver]
Anne & Pete Sibley\ This Silver Ring\ Will You Walk With Me\ Self
Solas\ Silver Dagger\ Reunion\ Compass
[smile]
Janet Klein & her Parlor Boys\ Smile Your Bluesies Away\ Put a Flavor to Love\ Self
[solitaire]
The Dreamsicles\ Really Good At Loving You\ Luv Songs for Grownups\ Self
Roger Miller\ Flowers on the Wall
[surfing]
Dan Reeder\ You'll Never Surf Again\ Sweetheart\ Oh Boy
[Spanish-American War]
The New Lost City Ramblers\ The Battleship of Maine\ The Early Years\ Smithsonian/Folkways
[tacoma]
Caroline Herring\ Tacoma Blues\ Wellspring\ Blue Corn
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends\ Thrice All American\ No Depression: What It Sounds Like, Vol. 1
[telephone]
The Hunger Mountain Boys\ No Phone No Tone\ Three\ Old-Fi
[television]
Maria Gillard has a good song too, "When I Had No TV," on "Little Rose"
Cheryl Wheeler's cranky song about her cable being off
-- just called "TV," maybe? And maybe on "Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar?"
Kristina Olsen\ Better Than TV\ Live from Around the World
[terrorism, GWOT]
"Lockerbie" on the CD "Espresso Ecstasy" by Jack Kid
[therapy, psychiatrist]
Mimi & Richard Farina\ Pack Up Your Sorrows\ Pack Up Your Sorrows\ Vanguard
Paul Kelly & The Stormwater Boys\ Stumbling Block\ Foggy Highway\ Cooking Vinyl
Dar Williams - that song that says "makes you selfish and in love with your shrink"
Antsy McClain\ Prozac Made Me Stay\ Trailercana\ DPR
David Roth\ Masters Degree
[tiki]
John Hiatt - The Tiki Bar is Open (album title)
David Lindley - "Tiki Torches at Twilight" - VERY GREASY (Elektra) - 1988
Yma Sumac / Kon Tiki / Queen of the Exotica / Proper
STILLWAY & BONHAM / Tiki Tantrum / Stillway & Bonham (NPP)
Guitars and Tiki Bars - Kenny Chesney
[three-way]
K.C. Groves\ Thinking in Terms\ Something Familiar\ Self
[tractors]
Art Stevenson & High Water\ John Deere\ John Deere\ Wolf Tracks
Country Gazette\ Sweet Allis Chalmers\ Hello, Operator\ Flying Fish
[treading water]
Joe Jencks\ Come With Me\ The Candle and the Flame\ Turtle Bear
Ali Marcus\ Treading Water\ The Other Side\ Turtle Rock
[tuba bass]
Sherry Austin\ Hallelujah\ Drive on Back\ Barking Topiary
[underwear]
A Modest Proposal (Long Underwear Song) \ FRED SMALL \ Love's Gonna Carry Us \ Aquifer
Underwear \ LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III \ Little Ship \ Virgin
Life Is Too Short \ BOB GRAMANN \ Grandad Planted Trees \ Self
[vegan / vegetarian]
Emerald City Jug Band\ Eat Organic\ Best of\ Self
Vegan Song/Lenny Solomon/Armando's Pie//solomonband.com
When They Close the Golden Arches/Bob Pyle/Apples and Oranges//bobpyle.com
Dana Lyons - Cows with Guns
[volcano]
Anne Hills\ Last Day of Pompeii\ Don't Panic\ Flying Fish
Edie Brickell\ Volcano\ Volcano
Jim & Jennie & The Pinetops\ Mt. St. Helens\ Rivers Roll On By\ Bloodshot
[war of 1812]
SHERWIN & PAM LINTON - Battle of New Orleans
Driftwood on the River - Black Gold
[wedding]
Eve Goldberg/Do You Wanna Get Married/A Kinder Season/Borealis
Hot Buttered Rum\ Wedding Day\ Well-Oiled Machine\ Harmonized
IIIrd Tyme out / John & Mary / John & Mary
Jody Kessler / The Ballad of Chris & Pat / No Solid Ground (or SingOut! 48/2 sampler)
[wood]
Brad Colerick\ Cottonwood\ Cottonwood\ Back 9
[yodel]
Mike Johnson\ Yeah, I'm a Cowboy\ The Rough Guide to Yodel (VA)\ Rough Guides
[Needs checking out]
Martin Simpson\ Lakes of Champlain\ Prodigal Son\ Compass
(War of 1812???)
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