sure new songs can eventually pass into traditional repetoire!...But the process must be natural and take 'X' amount of time...it doesn't happen by decree, just because some fan of a particular song...or it's author (like Dylan, for example) decides it is so important and wonderful that it somehow deserves early induction...*grin*...It just sort of 'happened' that many folk came to view Woody Gutherie's stuff as 'folk'...and the process is STILL ongoing. The rules are not clear, and there is no universal agreememnt...but Wooody is sure headed there, as is Dylan, I suppose.