Being a little less ardent in my devotion to folk songs, I'll say that some of them are so long I might have forgotten what they were about by the time they're ready to be ended. A reminder at the end could be helpful for those like me. ... (?)

In elementary "How to Make a Speech" classes, it is often taught that you should always use three steps:

1. Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em.

2. Tell 'em.

3. Tell 'em what you told 'em.

The repeated first verse might be an attempt at following something similar to this practice, although the more modern classes say "don't tell 'em anything. Just make 'em want to buy it."

John