'How does this help our determining what we mean by folk song Steve?'

Who exactly do you have in mind when you say 'we' in this context?

'You're not happy with '54'.
You didn't read my post, Jim. I'm fine with '54'. I'm also aware that millions more people than my few acqaintances and fellow researchers have a different concept of what 'folk' is. The dictionary compilers usually try to follow all of these usages.