Of course it could easily have developed into a song-centred thread.

It's the songs that carry the message, if there is a message. I've always admired the way Vin Garbutt will give a long rambling and hilarious introduction - and then launch into a deadly serious song, which has nothing to do with what he's been talking about, maybe with a couple of words or more typically less, to warn people what's coming.

Bob Dylan of course has almost always studiously avoided any kind of introduction, believing in letting the songs speak for themselves.

The other thing of course is singing the songs in a context where that in itself is expressing solidarity with some kind of struggle or movement. On a picket line, at a rally, or a benefit, for example.