Old

Subject: Old
From: Ged Fox
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 05:25 AM

This phrase came up in another thread.
"Folk getting together with like-minded folk to sing a few songs, including the popular songs of the day and maybe 'old songs' - some of which were the popular music of another day."

'Old songs' is an expression almost as fluid in its meaning as 'folk.'
To one who rarely sings songs that are in copyright, 'old' starts (or rather ends,) about the beginning of Victoria's reign. That may be extreme. Chappell's "Popular Music of the Olden Time" goes up to about eighty years before he published it. Plenty of people in folk clubs would side with Bishop Percy, whose "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry" included songs not more than forty years old.
Does 'old' mean 'of our grandparents' time' or 'of our parents' time' or simply 'of our youth?'

Subject: RE: Old
From: Will Fly
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 05:28 AM

Old is like long - as in "How long is a piece of string?"

It's all relative. I'm a fit young 73 to my contemporaries, and an ancient bloke to my grandchildren...

Subject: RE: Old
From: Mr Red
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 05:52 AM

"How long is a piece of string?"

from one end tu 'other, mate.

Old generally translates as anything (musically speaking) your Grandparents knew as popular. ie beyond our experience.

Unless we are talking teenagers, then anything that isn't in the charts. In the shops. Doesn't have IP address, or not bluetooth enabled.

Subject: RE: Old
From: leeneia
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 09:25 AM

Edi beo thu, hevene Quene
Sumer is a-cumen in
Of the Father's Love Begotten
Spring has now Unwrapped the Flowers
Gaudete

Subject: RE: Old
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 09:39 AM

'Old generally translates as anything (musically speaking) your Grandparents knew as popular. ie beyond our experience.'


I am not so sure about that, recently heard someone say they loved 'the old songs' and then commenced to sing a pop song from the late nineties. Mind you the singer was twenty. But it shows the whole thing is a flexible concept.

Subject: RE: Old
From: Marje
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 12:05 PM

"Old songs" is an expression that was used before anyone referred to "folk" or "traditional" songs. The early collectors would have heard and used that term in order to identify the kind of songs they were searching for, to distinguish them from the more commercial popular songs of the day (e.g music hall).

Nowadays it's so vague as to be almost meaningless without some information on the context.

Subject: RE: Old
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 02:11 PM

Reminds me of the notorious response by telegram:

OLD CARY GRANT FINE
HOW YOU