Not much here about the original question though.

Of course there are plenty of great songs that aren't about sporting or drinking or whaling or racial slurs or whatever. As a good fr'instance take "Rolling Downward Through the Midnight," a Christmas song that John Roberts & Tony Barrand have recorded. As Bill (my non-Christmas-celebrating spouse) says about it, "However you feel about the content, there are times when the words and melody of a song just express the intention perfectly." And, it's great to sing. Lots of ballads have magnificent tunes, too. Although you could say that murder, etc is non PC, couldn't you?

But back to the question. Why do sporting (and drinking) songs so often have such great tunes? Actually they didn't all have great tunes, but -- there were so many of them! Lots of good ones became popular and survived. They were sung in rowdier circumstances than most love songs, and loaned themselves to a more up-tempo treatment. Nothing else would have worked.

But I think the real key is that sporting people, especially people who liked a good chase, tended to have a lot of energy and would enjoy bouncy, energetic songs. The fact that a lot of drinking often accompanied hunting for sport didn't hurt either; everyone felt energetic and "high" and it was reflected in the songs.

Any thoughts? Or is it really a non question at this point?

Rita