Here's the problem. There is a body of traditional material that has been eclipsed by the performance rights societies who derive income from the use of copyrighted songs on the media. Many of these traditional songs have become obscured and like folk tales or stories which have become replaced by sit-coms and t.v. dramas, these songs and the style of presentation has been pushed aside. Nonetheless, these songs and styles (folk songs) remain as do the legendary folk tales and stories. They will continue regardless of all the other songs written and performed by entertainers who are generally professional or semi-pros. The issue transcends mere definition.

In the last decades because of the recording industry, T.V. and now the net, a kind of
musical "imperialism" has taken hold. Publishing a folk song runs the same risk as the
"definitive" song which as a folk song, it can never be. Sam Hinton's metaphor about a printed folk song like a picture of a bird in flight is apt.

There is another notable problem. Songwriting has suddenly become so ordinary in the
music field that the quality of the music and lyrics has been dumbed down for the marketplace. This is often what passes for "folk song" these days. So anyone can write a folk song? I don't think so.

If you listen and research a good amount of traditional field recordings of folk songs (and by research, knowing how they came about) you will find that folk songs and their singers have a different quality then the modern interpreters or singer/songwriters. Not all of it
is wonderful, some are boring, but mostly vital and reflective of a cultural past or tradition. Tradition means something that extends over time.

So it's not just about definitions but preserving something worthwhile that is getting
lost in the commercial economic shuffle.

Frank Hamilton