This thread is proving its own point. Several songs that have been mentioned as having been done to death, I've never even heard of, let alone heard.

Bingo! There is a huge number of songs that we used to consider as "basic repertoire" that nobody much sings anymore, except when some of us old far—old fogies get together. They're great songs. They're the ones we fell in love with; the ones we wanted to sing. So we learned them, then bought guitars, banjos, etc., and learned to accompany them. They're the reason we became interested in folk music in the first place.

Then along come the "hipper-than-thou" types to piddle in the punch bowl. Granted, there are some songs, usually the humorous songs, that need to be set on a shelf for awhile (by now everybody knows the punch line), or sentimental songs that, if done too frequently, can lose their emotional impact and should be given a rest — but not tossed in the wastebasket, for Pete's sake! But after a decent interval, haul 'em out again. Give younger singers a chance to hear them and judge for themselves.

NEWS FLASH: Folk music is not "Your Hit Parade." These songs don't die out after two weeks. Many of them have been around awhile (some for many centuries in one version or another), and, given a chance, they'll be around a long time from now.

Let's hear it for the old songs. Let's hear the old songs!

Don Firth