This far from canonical list of John’s songs will likely never be complete. But he sure knew a lot of songs, and we’ll try to make the list as complete as possible.
2&20 Blues (Some female Canadian folksinger we’ve not yet identified, popularized by Penny Lang)
A Christmas Carol (Tom Lehrer)
A Fierce Unrest (Don Marquis and Ananias Davisson)
A Habitrail Named Klein (Blake Hodgetts)
A Shooting Star (They Might Be Giants)
A Thousand Ships (Juliane Hoenisch and Katy Droege-Mcdonald)
Absolutely Bonkers (Brenda Sutton Three Weird Sisters)
Acts of Creation (Cat Faber)
Ain’t No Cure For Love (Leonard Cohen)
Anna Marie (Bruce Miller)
The Anti-Singalong Song (Molly & the Tinkers)
Archetype Café (Talis Kimberley)
Artificial Means (Christine Lavin)
At Least I Ain’t Humble (Brooke Lunderville)
Autumn Cats (Cynthia McQuillan)
Bella Ciao (trad. extra verses Leslie Fish)
Bella Chow Chow Chow (trad. new lyrics Cynthia McQuillan)
Bye Bye Blackbird composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon
Blackleg Miner
Blue Horizon
Brainy Primate Blues (Bruce Woollatt)
Burn It Down (Michelle Dockrey and Tony Fabris)
Butterbug Blues (Cat Faber)
Albert’s Cove (David Essig)
Careless (Nancy Louise Freeman) Link goes to John singing it at Conflikt II, must register to play or download. Thank you to Howard Stein for this. 30.5.2009
Cats in the Dawn (Heather Rose Jones)
Clem’s Song (Just Call me Clem, Allegra Sloman)
Columbus Stockade Blues (Doc Watson)
Cordelia (Filk of Ophelia by the Band, by John)
Crash on the Levee (Bob Dylan)
Crazy Love (Van Morrison)
Crazy Man Michael (David Swarbrick / Richard Thompson)
Crematorium Song (Enoch Kent)
Crossed Over (Bob Kanefsky)
Cry for the baby (David Essig)
Dead Man’s Pants (Rowan Lipkovits)
Deep River Blues (Doc Watson)
Demon Java (Steve Key/David Goldfinger)
Dirty Movie (Steve Sajich)
Don’t Come Over Baby (Carolyn Mark)
Don’t Go Looking For Trouble (Steve Goodman)
Donkey Work (John’s filk of Dirty Work)
Drivel (Dr. J. Robinson)
Falling Free (Tom Smith)
Five Extra Years (Rick Keating)
Frobisher Bay (James Gordon)
Gentle Arms of Eden (Dave Carter)
Girl That’s Never Been (Michelle Dockrey)
God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind) (Randy Newman)
Gravity Exiles (Barry Childs-Helton)
Guardians (Leslie Fish & Mercedes Lackey)
Hallelujah, I’m a Bum
Have You Heard Any News of the Iceberg? AKA Have you Got Any News of the Iceberg (Les Barker)
Here’s to Mother Nature (Peter & Lou Berryman)
Hillcrest Mine (James Keelaghan)
History is Made By Stupid People (The Arrogant Worms)
Hit Them in the Bottom Line
Honky Tonkin’ (Hank Williams)
Hope Eyrie (Leslie Fish)
Horizontal – Original Sloth Band was who he learned it from (Ken Whitely) but no idea who wrote it
I Can’t Get Over You… (Nate Bucklin)
I Fell Asleep (Brooke Lunderville)
I Forget The Title (Blake Hodgetts)
I Pop Pills (Nate Bucklin)
I Want To Die (Like They Do In Sci-Fi) (Brooke Lunderville)
I’ll Fly Away (Albert E Brumley)
I’m Going Back to North Carolina (Trad. with extra verses by Dyad)
I’ve Been All Around This World
In a Histaminor Key (Brooke Lunderville)
In Christ There Is No East Nor West (Words: William Dunkerley, 1908. Music: Alexander Reinagle, 1836)
Incompatible Software Blues (Nancy Freeman)
It’s Just So Nice When Someone Knows Your Name (Brooke Lunderville)
Ivan, You Idiot (Brooke Lunderville)
Jack Frost (Cat Faber)
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (JS Back)
King of the Fairies (It’s on an Alan Stivell album, but no idea where it came from)
Knight of the Rose (Eileen McGann)
Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon
Le Tordian (variation) (Instrumental variation by John)
Leather Pants of Evil (Nancy Freeman)
Leprosy
Let’s Go Down to the Water (Willie P Bennett)
Levee’s Broken (James Gordon)
Like the Millionaires Do (which is actually “Weed Smoker’s Dream” by the Harlem Hamfats, and John’s version of it ROCKED)
Little Fuzzy Animals (Frank Hayes)
Livejournal Shanty (Brooke Lunderville)
Long Black Veil
Lost Highway (Hank Williams)
Lulu (Joe Hall)
Mad Science Café (Brooke Lunderville)
Mark’s Song (Cat Faber)
Middle-aged Guys With Guitars (Joe Hall)
Mind Your Own Business (Hank Williams)
Music In Your Eyes (Willie P. Bennett)
My Karma Broke Down (Mike Cross)
Nessie, Come Up (Dr Jane A Robinson, the singing paleontologist, who is now James as of 2004)
Never Give a Puppy (Rowan Lipkovits)
Never Set the Cat On Fire (Frank “You Scum” Hayes)
Nibbled to Death by Mice (Nate Bucklin)
No High Ground (Leslie Fish)
No Quarter (Echo’s Children)
No Quarters (Brooke Lunderville)
Nobody Knows I’m Invisible (Nate Bucklin)
Nootka
Oankali Song (Brooke Lunderville)
One Meatball
One Time Only (Tom Paxton)
Paint me A picture (David Essig)
Paradise (John Prine)
Particle Board (Arrogant Worms)
Petrifaction (Dr. J. Robinson)
Polar Bear Ball (James Gordon)
Police Dog Blues (Blind Blake)
Pornographic Pictures of Queen Victoria
Psi Nought (Jordin Kare)
Putrefaction (Brooke Lunderville)
Queen Isabella (Leslie Fish)
Queen of the Fairies
Ramboing (Leslie Fish & Mercedes Lackey)
Rastus Brown
Rich Fantasy Lives (Rob Balder & Tom Smith)
Rippy the Gator (Arrogant Worms)
She Ain’t Rose
She Burned Up in the Footlights (David Essig)
Show Us The Length (Bob Bossin)
Six Feet Under (Jeff & Maya Bohnhoff)
Some Other Planet (Joe Hall)
Somebody Has To (Shel Silverstein poem set to music by John)
Southern Star
St. James Infirmary Blues
Stealin’
Step Away (Willie P. Bennett)
Take My Own Advice (Willie P. Bennett)
Tapioca Song (Allegra Sloman)
That Godforsaken Hellhole I Call Home (Austin Lounge Lizards)
The 20th Century Is Almost Over (Steve Goodman)
The Drugs We Need (Austin Lounge Lizards)
The Giant Squid Has Not (Brooke Lunderville)
The Jig of the One-Celled Organisms – anon
The Last Page (Brooke Lunderville)
The Last Saskatchewan Pirate (Arrogant Worms)
The Last Word (Willie P. Bennett)
The Mad Scientist’s Love Song (Gary McGath)
The Night that Granny Got Plastered (Leslie Fish)
The Scooby Gang Marching Song (John C. Bunnell)
The Wheel (Leslie Fish)
The World Inside the Crystal (Steve Savitzky)
The Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster (Brooke Lunderville)
Tiny Fish for Japan (Stan Rogers)
Trouble Come By Here (Brooke’s parody of Trouble Pass Me By)
Trouble Pass Me By (Rick Keating)
Two Worlds (Nancy Freeman)
Vampire Slayer Blues (Cindy Turner)
Viking Men
We Can’t Find (Dr. J. Robinson)
We Didn’t Know – Tom Paxton
When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob Dylan)
When You’se A Viper (Fats Waller)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Brooke Lunderville)
Will the Turtle Be Unbroken (Les Barker)
Wings (Echo’s Children)
Witnesses’ Waltz (Leslie Fish)
The Word of God (Cat Faber)
Work is the Curse (Leslie Fish)
World Inside the Velveteen (Words Steve Savitzky, tune Kathy Mar, unholy combination by Brooke)