le sigh.

Hands up, I am guilty too. I am from US a lower mid working class boring background with little exposure to American folk much less English tradtional.

I was really introduced to Trad English music by my daughter when she was 15(some 13 years ago) and I (as she did) fell head over heels in love.   I only discovered the political folk music of my native land recently as a result of trawling through Mudcat. Yes I sang Guthrie's This Land is Your Land in elementary school but we were not taught what it meant.

Don't think it is fair to deny anyone's feeling for any type of music. If the song and the story moves you, they move you. If one can perform them so that they move someone else... where's the harm?

I can't believe I have been sucked into the vortex of this thread again.