Whether or not present day 'pop' songs pass over into a tradition of some sort or other is a question of time. We are too close to the songs to be able to foresee what may or may not happen in 10,20,50 or more years, irrespective of matters like copyright.
I can well imagine a similar argument taking place in a village pub somewhere, say 150 years ago. One of the younger men has just sung a song from a broadsheet he picked up recently at the market and one of the older men passes comment along the lines of "Na, it won't last, this modern stuff. You mark my words lad, no bugger'll be singing songs like that'n next year!"........And then take a good look at the song collectors lists.
As for the accompaniment/interpretation question, it's all down to your abilities and to how prepared you are to take risks. After all, the audience knows these songs (Chuck Berry or whoever) from radio, concerts and records and so tends to expect you to go along with the 'accepted' version. But if you're prepared to convincingly go out on a limb the results can be fascinating. I know it's not exactly a 'pop' song but with "Hallelujah" for example, singers tend to slavishly follow Leonard Cohen's original interpretation. A while back I heard a version from an Algerian singer which was, apart from the melody, light years away from the usual interpretation- and it was bloody marvellous! Ditto Davenport's a capella "Memphis Tennessee". On the other hand, playing rock'n'roll songs in a proper rock'n'roll manner can be real fun!


I'll go along with Arlo on this.