call it what you want - of course its not us who decide what makes a folksong, and thankfully its not the academics.

the original song we were asked to look at, at least has the virtue of unselfconsciousness.

Dylan, MacColl, MacGowan, Leonard Cohen - they all write to some extent, in what Raymond Chandler characterised as 'art' writing. they write using language that draws attention to itself, rather than simply telling of the situation. Of course poeticisms and lyricism are part of many well known undisputed folksongs

and thats not to say these people didn't write folk music, or that their approach won't go down as folksongs - there really is no way we can predict that.

what is surely important -is rather like George says - that we as a nation reconnect to our folk singing roots. folksinging is ultimately not what academics say, its what the people sing.