I'm replying to McGrath of Harlow, his posting of 11-Jan-00 - 02:30 PM
If you look at my earlier posting, you'll see that I say that, though you can probably find exceptions, in general the songs haven't got a political message. I'll agree that it might be possible for you to sing a hunting song politically today, but that's you with the political message, not the song; and I find it difficult to see how you'd sing broken-token songs politically at all. When I sing hunting songs (as I do, frequently), there's no politics at all: I'm singing them partly for the joy of singing, partly because the music is so fine, partly because most have a chorus that all can join in, partly because after a few pints "necessity is upon me" and I have to sing, and partly because I can take delight in my forebears' delight in the chase.
From your lack of comment about my other 2 categories, do I gather that you agree that there's mostly no politics in drinking songs nor in boy-meets-girl songs?

So, no, I'm not joking, and I stand by what I said.