Steve,

I absolutely agree with you. From the point of view of a person hearing and enjoying a song, it matters little where it came form but when as a researcher you are trying to understand the oral/folk tradition, it is important to know exactly how the singer came by the song and what changes, consciously or unconsciously he or she has made to the song. So it's an academic thing. Nothing wrong with that so long as it doesn't lapse into pedantry or spoil the enjoyment of others. This leaves open the question of WHY people like and learn certain songs and this is a complex question for another thread.

Tradsinger