The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #16949   Message #161730
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
12-Jan-00 - 01:43 PM
Thread Name: When does Folk = Not political music?
Subject: RE: When does Folk = Not political music?
No such assumption Bald Eagle - as I said, "Anything can be political at some time or place."

Drinking songs are political when there's prohibition. Boy meets girl? All depends. I can see some of these as highly controversial in a situation where arranged marriages are on the politucal agenda.

Songs about flowers. Like when they sing "Edelweiss " in "The Sound of Music."

I quite agree you can distinguish between songs that set out to make some kind of political statement, and songs which don't. But come the time and the circumstances and the songs that didn't start off trying to be political can make enormously powerful poltical statements. "We Shall Overcome" was a hymn to start with. And still is.