There's a danger I could be working on this msg all afternoon...there's a lot to respond to in this thread! Alice I found your remark about the counterculture to be odd considering the origin of this thread--one sweeping generalization begets another. What I learned from my youth in the 70's was to be open to possibilities that one's life could be different--the possibilities don't seem as limitless now as then, but it still does my heart good to know that they exist. Even though I'm not twenty-two anymore. I see both adults and young people all the time who take some inspiration from this philosophy, even if they don't know where it comes from.

Personally, I think "Aragon Mill" is a great song, and highly singable. I sing it all the time.

I see Stan Rogers' work as a mixed bag. A lot of it is really sentimental--and that stuff, such as "Lies", and "Forty-Five Years", tends to get more airplay because it fits radio formats more than his other stuff. Now there's nothing wrong with sentiment--many of those, such as "Free in the Harbour" are classics. (the ones that are about something, unlike "I'm trying to write a song and it really isn't easy" --you know what I mean) But others like Barretts' Privateers and Wreck of the Athens Queen don't have that "I'm a poet craftsman goddamit shut up and listen to me emote" feel to them--probably because they were written in a hurry rather than agonized over. Or started with a plot and then had a song written to fit it. That's a more likely way to get a folk song, methinks.

I still think Stan was one of the most influential songwriters of the last two decades--and most of his influence was positive. There's a lot to be said for craftsmanship and a work ethic!

That said, I share Jon's search for writing with a sharp edge--it's hard to find among the current explosion of Ani diFranco imitators. Not that Ani doesn't have it herself. But the irony is that one brilliant artist like her can spawn hundreds of imitators without the guts and vision. If I thought that was folk music, that would be why I hate folk music.