Most Americans who have been addicted to MTV and the pop music dance movement
wave are not conditioned to sit quietly and listen to ballads. The narratives of arcane
legends are beyond their interest. I have always been partial to them because of the story they tell. They carry the resonance of antiquity and as a result fall prey to academic
meandering and stultifying analysis.

The Bardic aspects of the ballad are apparent when you hear them and not necessarily when you read them off of a page. There is a universal aspect that transcends any country when you consider the stories of the Griots of Africa, the legends from Europe and the Middle East, the Mexican "Corrido" or the Anglo-American singing narratives. This may be stating the obvious but the point it, it's an experiential thing. It requires the same attention as if you were listening to so-called "classical" music and is not meant to be a motor distraction while doing other things. It doesn't really require being dressed up for public consumption through cute arrangements or irrelevant musical divergence.

So much of music today is made for the background. That has its function but is not
the province of the ballad.