'How many of us now can honestly sing a traditional song as though we were part of the world that it came from?'
This is a question that has been heard many times and not satisfactorily answered in my opinion. The thing is, those worlds extend a lot further than you think. When I was a lad it was estimated that one third of the population of my home town owed their living directly or indirectly to the fishing industry. After the 'Cod War' the population has now dropped by a third! Now that actually totals 100, 000 souls. Thats a hell of a lot of people who were obviously part of that world of the fisherman. Actually I have lived all of my adult life in the Yorkshire coalfield, I have taught miners and their children. I have been harrassed by police during the miners strike, forced from my car and searched in case I was smuggling secondary pickets. When a friend died in an explosion in a coal mine it touched us deeply. I've never been down a mine but, like thousands who've lived in these villages I am a part of that world too. I reckon this is true for countless thousands of people especially when the chips are down and the community has to pull together. I'm not convinced that there's a need to actually be a miner, fisherman, or blacksmith to sing about them, it's more a matter of empathy and closeness to the people around you.