All-time favorite songs, from my personal memory bank, and from 15 years of the Hear & Now. Not in any way comprehensive or complete, but maybe representative.
| Artist | Song | Album | Label | Year |
| Randy Newman | Mama Told Me Not to Come | 12 Songs | Reprise | |
| Leonard Cohen | Tower of Song | I'm Your Man | Columbia | |
| Noe Venable | Look, Luck | Down Easy | Petri Dish | |
| Jenna Mammina | Throw It Away | Under the Influence | Mamma Grace | |
| Chris Webster | Run Away to the Circus | Drive | Compass | |
| Jesse DeNatale | Shangri-La West | Shangri-La West | Jackpine Social Club | |
| Tom Waits | Hold On | Mule Variations | Anti- | |
| Guy Clark | Boats to Build | Boats to Build | Asylum | |
| David Olney | Barrymore Remembers | Real Lies | Philo | |
| Kathryn Williams | I Started a Joke | Relations | CAW | |
| Donovan | To Try for the Sun | Summer Day Reflection Songs | Castle | |
| Bob Dylan | Simple Twist of Fate | Blood on the Tracks | Columbia | |
| Richard & Linda Thompson | Wall of Death | Shoot Out the Lights | Hannibal | |
| Graham Parker | Passion Is No Ordinary Word | Ultimate Collection | Hip-O | |
| Mekons | Heart of Stone | So Good It Hurts | Twin/Tone | |
| Neil Young | The Loner | Neil Young | Reprise | |
| The Beatles | Nowhere Man | Rubber Soul | Capitol | |
| Simon & Garfunkel | I Am a Rock | The Best of Simon & Garfunkel | Columbia | |
| Jefferson Airplane | Comin' Back to Me | Surrealistic Pillow | RCA | |
| Fred Neil | The Dolphins | Fred Neil | Water | |
| Beasts of Paradise | Song to the Siren | Gathered to the Edge | City of Tribes | |
| Kevin Welch | Fold Your Wings | Beneath My Wheels | Dead Reckoning | |
| Tracy Nelson | Down So Low | The Best of Tracy Nelson/Mother Earth | Reprise Archives | |
| Iris DeMent | My Life | My Life | Warner Bros. | |
| Susan Werner | Epilogue: May I Suggest | New Non-Fiction | SW | |
