tsk...circular and empty definitions...if 'folk' is 'what we sing', then why call it folk? Just call it 'songs'!If a definition is to mean anything, whether it is agreed with or not, it must differentiate. "A rose is a rose is a rose" does nothing for those who have never seen a rose.
The fact is, we DO mean something by 'folk' as opposed to 'Bluegrass' or 'pop' or 'rock' or 'Gregorian chant' ...we may not agree on the details, but a definition has gotta have some content....mine is up to several pages of characteristics and disclaimers now...(and I still like the direction of Jon's...I just want to define how records should be sorted in the music store...or categories in a database....obsessed masochist?? naaahhhh....)