The classic folklorist deefinition of a ballad is a narrative story told in the third person, usually with dialogue between characters carrying the story forward. So "Alice's Restaurant" is NOT a folkloric ballad (it's in first person), nor are many lyric songs (the more accurate definition of "She Moved Through the Fair" and similar "soft" songs).

Of course, the popular-music term "ballad" got mixed with folklorists' term, just as the popular-music definition of "folksong" did. So now, even among members of the "folk music community," we talk of "Irish Ballads" that are pop-song ballads in a folk style, but not "ballads."

Maybe we should capitalize Ballad when we mean "folklorists would agree" (not actually -- scholars bicker), and leave it lower-case -- ballad -- when we mean Johnny Mathis / Tony Bennett / Ella Fitzgerald et al.

Of course, we won't hear the capital when we're speaking, not writing, but we could use our hands, making "quote marks" with our fingers, or something like that.

Or we can just sing 'em and to hell with definitions (which can wait till the singing's done).

Bob