well the way i would look at a song and the way i think tradtional singers like Bob Roberts looked at a song is what makes a good song ,an example of this is Bob Roberts version of "whilst gamekeepers lie sleeping" does anyone twiiter on about that being a rewrite and therefore not trad.
imo singers look at songs as good stories not histoical context, and that appears to have been the attitude of trad singers like Bob Roberts
Scholars have a different approach as do pedants

    a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning.