The "Minnorie/Binnorie" thread got this perculating through the coffee grounds of my mind...

Mopndegreens and just plain not hearing correctly can lead to changes in lyrics. These can then be passed on - either by someone recording them - or singing them often enough that others learn the "new" version.

My question would be - and I realize it will only be opinions expressed - WHEN would the change be considered to be a variant version rather then just a "change". For example - if a band learns a variation from someone - quite possibly orally - and then records it without realizing it is not a traditional variation but just a mistake on the part of those they learned it from. And it gets popular...

Or even when someone makes a deliberate change, but then it is learned by a series of people orally - how many transmissions would you say it takes to make it a "variant".

I don't know about you - but there are a good many songs from WWI and WWII and the fifties that I learned from friends and relatives singing - rather then off the radio or any other form of sound reproduction. (and of course, human memory being what it is - a lot of them are not identical with the written music)