Why don't I sing my version of Lady Franklin's Lament, the one where Lord Franklin comes home like Ulysses a hero for finding the true Northwest Passage & spends the next 10 years in China with his first mate's wife. Or instead of just changing the he to a she why not sing about how our main character marries the Creole Boy on the Plains of Buffalo instead of the Lakes of the Ponchatrain (all known versions he's or is it she's still rejected). Traditional songs have been shaped over the years, many years & subtle changes have been accepted or rejected by listeners & singers alike keeping the song as is or allowing for gradual change for the better without altering the song's intent or integrity.

On the subject of changing a songwriter's song it's a little more touchy. If it's a good or a great song why change it's meaning or intent, did the writer give their stamp of approval, can you change it NOT enough so you give time a chance to tell weither or not the change is needed or even wanted. There are some cases where additional verses ("Sonny's Dream") have been accepted & taken on & some where slight changes ("Jack In The Green") have also been taken on but it's few that have worked as well as these 2.

I guess I'm out here on my own but I'm also quilty of doing it when I've found only a verse or 2 & after searching for years finally wrote a couple of verses to a few songs that I felt where too great to be so short only to find in one case the full version many (20) years later & by that time couldn't give up my additional verses.

So I guess what I'm really saying is to respect the song above all else & keep it's original intent intact & please be gental the older they are the more you need to handle them with care & the less change there (if at all) is warranted.
Barry