Personally I like both and have been singing both since the 70's. To be honest I believe that every song should be judged on its own merit, there are good Folk Songs and Bad Folk songs with nonsense lyrics as there are good and bad contemporary songs with terrible lyrics (but obviously this is very subjective). Personally I hate the blinkered approach of some Folkies who on occasions find it their duty to pontificate about what a Folk song is. What we must remember is that Traditions, habits and people change and so do lyrics and sentiments of songs which evolve to match the mood of the era. Some (not all) pop songs of today will survive into being Folk songs of tomorrow and take their place along side the old songs, some may like them, some may not but hey wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same (or is that what some folkies want?) We shouldn't allow someone elses musical tastes or definitions to stop us from hearing or singing any song that we like. I have been to clubs where I have included in my set both Traditional and Contemporary songs and felt unwelcome for doing so (not imagined, comments were made directly to me) and I will never go there again. That is not a good game plan for preserving the love and pleasure of singing the old songs, clubs should be making people welcome whatever their musical taste, encouraging them to sing what is in their heart, only then will the old songs be passed on to people who started off being ignorant of our musical heritage. I heard someone say once that a commercial song could never be a Folk song, so tell me then what about Scarborough Fair that Simon & Garfunkel nicked are we never going to sing that one again? Are you trying to tell me that in a Folk Club we shouldn't sing a Paul Brady song such as the brilliant 'The Island' because it has been released commercially by other artists. If one of Vin Garbutt's songs was released by OASIS would we stop singing it? No, I don't think so! So it's OK for a Folk song to cross the barrier in to POP but not the other way about? The crux of the matter is some Folkies have become blinkered and self righteous, seeing only the old Traditional songs as acceptable in a Folk Club environment and that is a real shame because we are missing the opportunity of encouraging new blood. The next time you need to know what the definition of a Folk song is, try looking in the Oxford English Dictionary. Folk Music - Traditional music or Modern Music in this style. Folk Song - Song of POPULAR or Traditional origin or style.

Sorry to go on but I feel it is time for someone to speak out for the Folks who can and do enjoy both but are actually being deprived of hearing both. Tradition can and must be kept alive but lets be clever about it and spread the word by throwing off thoses blinkers.