The OP said: "I hope this won't turn into trad vs. non-trad thread. What I had in mind was a discussion of lyrics with power, so whether it's singer-songwriter or trad.that does it for you, have at it."

Yes, I had similar thing resulting from another thread I initiated recently where I put "folk" but meant something quite broad. My summation would be that it would be helpful if people creating threads clearly deliniated their terms and wants in the OP. I used the term "folk" when I was meaning "traditional & singer/songwriter" others read "folk" to mean "traditional only", so I had to explain the broader terms of my OP. Having said that I don't know how many (if indeed any?) Americans recognise any distinction between traditional (very old) and contemporary (not so old) folk music. Honest here.