Then there was progressive rock, which made folk look ridiculous by opening up both musical and lyrical possibilities - strange chords, strange time signatures, strange metaphors, why would you go back to the milkmaids (or the trade unionists, or the singing diaries)?

Because sitting in the dark for two hours listening to fake surrealism in E minor and watching guys shaking mops of hair in red spotlights was an experience you didn't want to repeat indefinitely?