"it isn't exactly folk music at this point in time, because it neither speaks to, nor speaks for any group with a collective identity--meaning a group that is conscious that it is insulated and differentiated from the general society by some common criteria, that those criteria have priority over things that that would include them in the general society, and that, because of that differentiation, they have a shared destiny"

9 times out of 10, when you have to explain something fundamentally simple in such a convoluted and over-qualified fashion, you're labouring a point.

Granted, there is a truism in this: "it isn't exactly folk music at this point in time, because it neither speaks to, nor speaks for any group with a collective identity".

But only in the (bloody obvious and utterly banal) sense that sea shanties are no longer sung and listened to by sailors.

As long as people work, people will relate to songs about work. As long as people fall in love, people will relate to songs about love. And as long as people like strange, ambiguous stories, as long as people appreciate the intangible potency of an arcane turn of phrase, folk songs will continue to resonate.