"Have you ever sung a murder ballad, Jim?"
'Course' I have - I can identify easily with the emotions that are associated with those ballads
You don't sing murder ballads to explain how to kill
Shanties are work songs which I, as a manual worker, am able to associate with different jobs I have carried out in my working life, especially during the five years I spent serving an apprenticeship on ships
I am certainly not against women using unexplored areas of their voice - far to many breathy head voices for my taste, but I think there are far better ways of doing it than singing man's work songs - it seems an exercise in pointlessness to me
I have no problem with anybody singing what they choose but I do believe there needs to be a reason for singing certain songs
If women can associate with hauling canvas and turning capstans, more power to their elbows, but as an audience member, I would have a problem imagining them doing so
Jim