" But I do believe that with many longer songs and ballads, one can maintain an authentic presentation and still cut some of the repetitive, ritualistic verses to make the song more manageable by modern audiences. Better that than bore them tears and make them lose interest entirely."

There's little point in actually singing all the verses if the audience is going to tune out all but the first 7 of them. :)

But I've never figured out how to cut this one down to a reasonable length without losing the story:

THE COWBOY'S LAMENT

"It's lonely in the saddle
Since my horse died."