We have a memorable recording of Ewan MacColl working with a singer, Gordon MuCulloch, using the colour and surroundings in the opening verses of the ballad, The Beggar Laddie.

"It was in the pleasant month of June
When gentle ladies walk their 'lane
When woods and valleys a' grow green
And the sun it shines sae clearly."

A masterful scene-setter.
Macoll suggested that it was possible to give your narrative ballds their own colour in order to visualise them
Jim Carroll