There's something Darwinian with music. There was a revival of and interest in old songs that gave us an insight into communities of yesterday, and this revival has been ongoing. From Cecile Sharpe wanting some quaint ditties to entertain his dinner guests with to the "collecting" of the c20.

Here in the next century / millennium, some of these old songs are being re arranged yet again for a new audience and like many pop songs, may last into the next few generations. Only time will tell. If I were a betting man, (and I do have the occasional flutter) then my money is on Imagine, Bohemian Rhapsody and the entire Beatles portfolio being available on whatever replaces iTunes together with Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. Hey down derry doodle? Depends if Ed Sheeran slips it in an album.

Music is what interests you. Jim talks of songs lasting. If he were around immediately prior to Sharpe or Child, he would not know not have heard many tunes nor indeed ballads he says have stood time. Most of them never ventured further than five miles from the earlier words and tunes they evolved from. Broadsheets of course being something Simon Cowell 's ancestors were involved with!

Music is to be enjoyed. If people stop singing a song, there is a good reason for it. If a song is dragged out for its provenance rather than its quality, there is a bad reason for it.
Many traditional songs are set to catchy tunes so there is hope yet.

Interesting how Dick can slag off Tom Brown but get hot under the collar over MacColl. A bit of trivia. They both got many songs from books and claimed to have learned them at their mother's knee, died on the same day and in their own (small in Tom's, large in Ewan's) way contributed to the folk culture of their day.

Of course Dirty Old Town will survive. As a traditional Irish ballad..   First Time Ever will too, thanks to Roberta Flack, Sinatra, Cash and The Stereophonics.

The oral tradition is now the iTunes server tradition. And that's a good thing. I sang Geordie at a charity gig recently and the drummer of a band also on said "I liked your take on that Anais Mitchell song.". I told him I liked her take on it too...