11 Comments
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QuinnMurphy's avatar

Wow. You really hit the nail on the head with this. As a lover of classic folk music I wondered why I always felt somewhat unsatisfied with the current music being produced in this genre (Lumineers, Noah Kahn, etc) aside from a few favourites like Hozier and Fleet Foxes. This article truly opened my eyes and reminded me why so much of it feels completely disingenuous compared to the music that was coming out of the 60s. I’ve never been a huge listener of modern hip hop and rap but I feel like I’m changing my tune and am excited to dive in… THANK YOU!

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2wicebitten's avatar

hiii i just have to say this was a wonderful read. i loooove joan baez and really relate to how you've described the experience of listening to her songs and discovering the queer aspects (basically i think i'm like, the exact target audience for this essay haha). one of my favorites is "once i knew a pretty girl" <3 where is the joan baez fan club for real (also, are you familiar with laura nyro? another bisexual musical genius-- slightly less folky and more jazzy but brilliant nonetheless, with her vocal talent and her compositions and the lyrics and just everything)

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❦ sonny p. forella's avatar

we are really keeping the joan fan club alive on tumblr until she finally gets discovered by NYC twentysomethings.....i don't know laura nyro but i'll check her out for sure! i actually didn't even know that joan song so thank you <33

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thicket skin's avatar

this is a really fab essay, well done! felt myself resonating with a lot of aspects in this : I too discovered Joan Baez in January of this year, was shocked to find she wasn't as universally loved as I loved her, am a first year uni student, and am also queer. honestly, hit the nail on the head multiple times for me haha! you write excellently, in a way that maintains my attention throughout the entire piece. good job dude 🙌

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❦ sonny p. forella's avatar

thank you, darling xx hope ur not going through it too intensely

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thicket skin's avatar

we ball ... we ball...

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romanianfaerie's avatar

this was incredible! thank you for sharing!

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Jenna's avatar

I’m a bit new to Joan Baez—I’ve listened and loved a couple of her albums, but this is making me want to visit even more! I love how you described her folk as a kind of punk rock. It’s definitely that cool. Great essay!!

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❦ sonny p. forella's avatar

i'm so glad, everyone should know about her! thanks so much :)

here are a couple playlists i made for my friends: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2c5vh86LWFDM5O20MZ646a?si=zh0brlPfTxyh8KMC9voxZA&pi=RU3fqP3qRGyvK (20 songs to introduce you to joan)

and this one is a compilation of all the songs mentioned in this essay: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2c5vh86LWFDM5O20MZ646a?si=zh0brlPfTxyh8KMC9voxZA&pi=RU3fqP3qRGyvK

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Lee's avatar

I'm dead serious when I say this is easily one of the best things I've read this month

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❦ sonny p. forella's avatar

stopppppp you are too nice :")

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