Interesting example, M, But even stereotypical mothers-in-law are a special subset of "all women."

It's been a long time since I heard a "mother-in-law" joke here in America - but maybe I don't get out enough.

The same goes for jokes about "women drivers" and "dumb blondes"(I don't know of any folksongs about them). The objects of the jokes aren't all women, they're a certain kind of "straw woman," so to speak.

Personally, I don't think the psychosocial analysis ("political" in Trendspeak) of folklore can tell us much, if anything, about society. It can tell us mainly about the songs and stories analyzed, and perhaps something about those who especially enjoy (or dislike) them. (It can often tell us a lot about the analyst too....)

To learn about society, one studies society, and not just some of its artistic productions - which will presumably reflect what is found elsewhere rather than vice versa.

And even then one draws large conclusions very cautiously.

Joe: Thanks for your tune. I can't quite place it.

Dick: Yours is the second reported ex. using "The Strawberry Roan" -some 20 years earlier than the other (found by Ed Cray).

And from Australia comes (wait for it) "The Syncopated Clock" (a pop hit in the U.S. in 1951).