I have been struggling with this since Kevin started it, and used my words on me(I love it-----leave it to another Irishman)...........caused me to think a little more in depth about it. I guess when I just flipped those out there I was referring to the fact that it is a great yarn, and to me that is the hallmark of folk over what is/was termed Country music. I don't think of most of what is called country music today as country as much as it is pop music. I would think of traditional country music (20th century US) as a sort of immediate music with many themes, but not much plot developement i.e. this guy pissed me off in the bar and I whipped him, or "I fell hard for my baby, and she left me high and dry". Bear in mind this is a very generalized comment. I would then think of folk music more in terms of Buffalo Skinners where classic bardic techniques of plot developement/morality lessons are worked in. Or a series of songs such as the soldier and maid, or Gypsy Davy scenarios are acted out. It seems to me that folk as opposed to trad country will give you many layers for interpretation and/or application. This song seems to be that way. While I wouldn't put it in the class of great folksongs to be, it certainly is a very good one. What was country music had many ancestors, such as country blues, and negro spirituals. Today's "country" music seems, for me at least, to lack any homage to those types of themes, and seems to owe more to the pop genre and sometimes even "bubblegum" styles.

Mick