The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #155357   Message #3655221
Posted By: Bounty Hound
30-Aug-14 - 09:45 AM
Thread Name: What makes a new song a folk song?
Subject: RE: What makes a new song a folk song?
Just to pick up on a point from Guest Steve T, What I've been talking about here is songs and tunes written influenced by, and paying respect to the tradition, so I'm not sure that 'pop' is the right term for them, perhaps pop might be the description for some things produced by navel gazing singer songwriters that have little substance, but are often passed off as 'folk'

And Jim, I'm not the one making a meal of this, just been asking a simple question, which thus far, you've declined to answer simply.

We have trad jazz, modern jazz, dixieland jazz etc all grouped under a collective term of 'Jazz' we have heavy rock, soft rock, metal etc all grouped under a collective term of 'Rock', we have orchestral pieces, piano concerto's, opera etc, all grouped under the collective term 'classical' and I'm fairly certain those are terms you would use too Jim. So I fail to understand why in your opinion, we can't have the same in 'folk'

I'll ask the question one last time, and of course we are talking here about songs (or tunes) written in the 'traditional idiom' or 'imitating' or 'influenced by the tradition' (Songs that maintain that tradition and keep it alive)

What do YOU call those type of songs Jim?

I'm not really expecting a simple, direct answer, as I suspect from your previous posts that you're struggling to find one without using the 'F' word