So, I've been thinking lately about this whole "quoting one song at the end of another" thing--especially the chorus of an older song--that seems to happen every so often in folk music (or "folk-style" for those songs that haven't actually stood the test of time yet--shall we call them "folk-candidates"?).

I could've sworn that I could come up with more examples than this, but what springs to mind at the moment is just a few:

Paul G.'s "The Creek" (quotes "Jacob's Ladder")
"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" (quotes *ding* "Waltzing Matilda")
my own "Zumbro River," which Max so graciously played on Mudcat this week (quotes "In the Sweet By and By")

Can anyone think of more examples? Does there seem to often be a pattern of quoting hymns? With my song, I didn't have the quote at the end originally. The song originally ended with "from the church up on the hilltop/you'll hear 'In the Sweet By and By'", and my brother one day, when I sang it for him, suggested the coda.

Does this practice have a name? Why do we wacky folkies do these things?

Asking pointless questions on a Friday,

Chris