Hi Cap'n,
Why 'The Peguin Book! Because I believe it to be the best 'general' collection of English songs in existence, covering ballads, lyrical, humourous, narrative - etc. - a good, representitive survey of our national repertoire.
If (highly unlikely) there are still headhunters in Borneo, (apart from those working for recruiting agencies), I doubt if there are many of us who would be able to make head nor tail - (is that too obvious?) of their songs. On the other hand, the songs in P.B. speak pretty much for themselves to anybody genuinely interested in discovering what the term Folk (as most of us know it) refers to. I would guess that most of us of my generation used it as a jumping off point - I certanly can't think of anything as comprehensive.
Jim Carroll