It seems to me, honored friend, that the difficulty lies in establishing the context. A song is a creative burst that may well be a solution to terrible burdens or woes, or a rally by an otherwise helpless individual against some oppression. When the Irish were dispersed, economically oppressed and had little hope of organized resistance, they wrote songs. When they did have organized reisistance, they wrote songs. When the circumstances of paternalistic dominance messed up women's lives, they wrote songs. When women messed up men's lives, and they didn't have the resources to move anywhere else, they wrote songs (or got drunk).

Context behind a song is the real key to seeing the waves of history running through it.

A.