The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #129293 Message #2902981
Posted By: GUEST,Steamin' Willie
09-May-10 - 05:46 AM
Thread Name: Singer Song Writer or Wronger?
Subject: RE: Singer Song Writer or Wronger?
Ever thought we are all preaching to converted a bit here?
People saying that singer songwriter has no style connotations / this is folk, that isn't folk / folk is something to do with a date just before I was born etc etc..
Do you honestly think those who own the commercial world give a toss what you or I think? To them, folk is a genre associated with sandals, polo neck jumpers and hippies. To say it is anything else may be technically true, but the rest of the world has an understanding of folk, and it isn't necessarily yours or mine interpretation. To the rest of the world, singer / songwriter smacks of a hippie with a guitar and a message.
Argue all you like, you can't change perception by rational argument. Don't forget the adverts for the "new best selling album" that at the time of the adverts hasn't sold a single copy, but it is designed to... The people who decide what most people like to listen to know exactly where and how to classify folk and the truth has nothing to do with it.
tell you what, ask Simon Cowell to define singer / songwriter and there you will have the definition that counts for 80% of the Western world.
Come to think of it, why don't we ask him what folk means and then we can lose this 1954 nonsense.....
Ahh feel better for that.