"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", with melody based on a Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire". When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land".
North Shields is a coastal resort on the River Tyne's north bank in the North Tyneside borough, northern England. It is a large area of Tynemouth and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Here Northumbria is defined as Northumberland, the northernmost county of England, and County Durham. According to 'World Music: The Rough Guide', "nowhere is the English living tradition more in evidence than the border lands of Northumbria, the one part of England to rival the counties of the west of Ireland for a rich unbroken tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipes and also a strong fiddle tradition in the region that was already well established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions, particularly southern Scotland and other parts of the north of England, as well as Irish immigrants.
"Blaydon Races" is a Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Geordie Ridley, in a style deriving from music hall. It is frequently sung by supporters of Newcastle United Football Club, Newcastle Falcons rugby club, and Durham County Cricket Club.
"The Water Is Wide" is a folk song of Scottish origin. It remains popular in the 21st century. Cecil Sharp published the song in Folk Songs From Somerset (1906).
"Cocaine Blues" is a Western swing song written by T. J. "Red" Arnall, a reworking of the traditional song "Little Sadie".
"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is an African-American spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk band The Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single.
"Dink's Song" is an American folk song played by many folk revival musicians such as Pete Seeger, Fred Neil, Bob Dylan and Dave Van Ronk, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, and Cisco Houston as well as more recent musicians like Jeff Buckley. The song tells the story of a woman deserted by her lover when she needs him the most.
"The Keel Row" is a traditional Tyneside folk song evoking the life and work of the keelmen of Newcastle upon Tyne. A closely related song was first published in a Scottish collection of the 1770s, but may be considerably older, and it is unclear whether the tune is Scottish or English in origin.
"Blow the Wind Southerly" is a traditional English folk song from Northumberland. It tells of a woman desperately hoping for a southerly wind to blow her lover back home over the sea to her. It is Roud number 2619.
"Cushie Butterfield" is a famous Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Geordie Ridley, in the style of the music hall popular in the day. It is regarded by many as the second unofficial anthem of Tyneside after Blaydon Races.
"Buy Broom Buzzems" is a song attributed by many to William Purvis, probably better known as "Blind Willie" (1752–1832), a Tyneside songwriter and performer in the end of the 18th and start of the 19th century, and is considered by many to be his piece de resistance.
Jemmy Joneson's Whurry is a traditional Geordie folk song in Geordie dialect written circa 1815, by Thomas Thompson, in a style deriving from music hall.
"Geordy Black", also known as "Geordie Black" and "I'm Going Down the Hill" is a 19th-century Geordie folk song by Rowland "Rowley" Harrison, in a style deriving from music hall.
Eric Boswell was an English composer of popular songs and folk music, most famous for writing the children's Christmas song "Little Donkey".
The Pitman's Revenge is a traditional Geordie folk song, written circa 1804, by George Cameron in the Geordie dialect. The song is about the threat of invasion posed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
"The Cliffs of Old Tynemouth" is a Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by David Ross Lietch. This song is a ballad, romanticising about one of the tourist sights of the Tyneside area.
"Full fathom five" is a phrase deriving from a verse passage in The Tempest by William Shakespeare known as Ariel's Song. The spirit Ariel addresses Prince Ferdinand after a shipwreck to tell him about the supposed drowning of his father in water about 5 fathoms deep and the physical metamorphosis that follows.
"The Cullercoats Fish Lass" is a folk song, written by Edward Corvan, originally printed as a broadside in 1862 and collated in Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings in 1891.
