Nigel - yet another reason to eschew MaD's cover. But it does raise an interesting "folk process" notion. Will American Pie evolve, after Don McLean (and you & I and Madonna) are long dead, into something entirely different and otherwise meaningful based on what happens between now & then, in music or out? Presuming of course that it survives at all (and somehow I think it might). Or would it have to be a song that lends itself to more frequent performance in informal venues by less-than-hotshot performers (i.e. true "folk" singers)? And yes, this is a "what is folk" offshoot.