The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #155357 Message #3655666
Posted By: GUEST,Rahere
31-Aug-14 - 05:47 PM
Thread Name: What makes a new song a folk song?
Subject: RE: What makes a new song a folk song?
One common aspect is that the song verges on folk wisdom. The banale tripe of commercial pop, the superficial egotism of interpersonal relationships, is left at the door: we deal in the longer-term.
For example, ask yourselves why nobody has yet written a song on 9/11, more than ten years on. Because the hurt camouflaged the feeling. Now we can invoke the reality. The starting point is the feel of communion in our playing. That is why the tales are of performers coming together to document things, because it is not one man's work. Sometimes the music passes through many hands before it becomes community property, but it that ownership, I think, which makes it folk: the music of this community. It can be many things and nothing - but it is ours.