"what you seem to be saying is that because it is folk song, "
Nothin of the sort Dave
I believe that most folk songs, while varying in quality, have something to offer and entertain
I go along with MacColl to believe that the poetry of the ballads, in the main challenge Shakespeare.
Good and bad is a subjecting term - it doesn't mean we are all going to entertain us all equally, but the place that folksong occupies in our culture over-rides our personal tastes
I have become familiar with Mongolian throat-singing - not even its best friend would describe it as beautiful but it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck bristle - that's what I mean by "good"
Jim Carroll