The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #24896 Message #1091873
Posted By: Uncle_DaveO
13-Jan-04 - 11:50 AM
Thread Name: Matty Groves - who's the 'baddy'?
Subject: RE: Matty Groves - who's the 'baddy'?
One of the salient features of the traditional English and Scottish ballads is that they don't take sides, they don't preach. They give you a conflict situation, which gets resolved in some way, but the song itself doesn't set out to tell you what to think about the situation. Sure, you may conclude that you pity Matty Grove (for instance) in the situation, but the ballad won't tell you, "Oh, wow, that bastard husband slew poor little Matty!" Nor, "There! That sneaking womanizer, Matty Grove, got his comeuppance!"
The "baddy" (if any) is the personal creation of the individual listener.
Dave Oesterreich