OK, so I'm early in my singing career, and only have a dozen or so songs, but I never sing a song unless I can do it from memory. That's not to say I never make a mistake, but I do like to feel I "own" a song and can do it on autopilot. Then I can "turn it up" a bit for a public performance. I'm lucky - I have the time to practise.

I remember in my previous incarnation as a regular folk club goer (3 or more nights a week, 20+ years ago) that no one ever sang from the written words. I have returned to folk clubs over the last two or three years and I see quite a few people with song books, used as crib sheets during performance.

But I also note that most of them don't sing the words that are written down!