It has occurred to me upon reading recent threads that in order to stimulate a greater interest in folk music we need to feed some impressive PR to the general audience.

For instance:

"Marvel at this performance of The Ballad of Lady Margaret and the Chook, 783 verses in total, and provided for your listening pleasure on 3 CD's."

"The world's longest song title is a Scottish folk tune - Pipe Major Joe Offer's Tribute to the 27th Scottish Dragons On the Occasion of the Centenary of the Ill-Fated Battle of Pakenham Upper as performed at the Edinburgh Tattoo in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and ... Part 2."

"Of course the world's most sung song is not White Christmas, or Happy Birthday, but of course The Wild Rover - it's just that a lot of people don't recall the event later on."

"The world's oldest punk song is a Child Ballad, but there is thin veneer of subterfuge in the sharp story line surrounding a sailor expressing his desire to spend some quality time with a local lady."

Yes to be successful folk music must be touted as the largest, the longest, the most popular, the sharpest and forever useful - just like advertising steak knives really.

TGIF
John