Looking at older ballads, many people have "changed the words"; for many songs we have no record of the "original."

I was looking through "The Joan Baez Songbook" recently. One cluster often discussed in Mudcat is the tale of a female who disguises herself to be with her -soldier-sailor lover. Baez gives a variant, "Jackaroe," a title seldom seen; she probably took it from "Lily Monroe" in one of the Lomax books and touched it up. Her version suits her style. I prefer other versions, but that is my take; others will prefer her rendition.

I think singers should be careful about changing the words of a song by a living composer- a little bit of stepping on toes- if not getting into copyright trouble- but beyond that, in giving the song your own spin, you are just joining the parade. Not even a Beethoven symphony is sacrosanct- each conductor does it "my way."