Folk songs
may not grab you first time- but they get under your skin in a more subtle way
and you never tire of them - unlike the simple pop tune.
I'm always rather puzzled by the loosely defined definitions regarding songs or tunes between the genres. A song sung by a folk balladeer is a 'folk song' wheras a song sung by a pop star is a 'pop ballad.'
Folk
singers
and Dylan wrote and sang highly memorable 'folk ballads'. Some pop
singers sing formulaic and forgettable 'ballads'. What is
the difference though, after all I hear some dull
folk songs as well as dull pop songs?
The dictionary
defines the Ballad as - a narrative song
with a recurrent refrain; a slow sentimental song, especially a pop song.
The folk song as - a
song that has been handed down the generations; a modern song that reflects the
folk idiom.
I
was sitting at Prestwick airport and heard
this truly awful whiny song. I asked my
son who it was, he said that ridiculous Justin
Beiber. I said that he reminded me of 'Donny
Osmond' in the 70s and his soppy ballad 'They
Call this Puppy Love'!
Well
that's the difference to me between the folk ballad and the 'soppy pop ballad'? That
song by Beiber is a soppy shallow empty pop Ballad. By comparison Someone Like You by Adele is heart
wrenching with it's honesty of emotion.
Awful
ballads? An example might be James
Blunt's cheesy ballad song 'You Are
Beautiful.' It is so hackneyed and
has those over-used tired old clichés and song formulas. My ears would feel ill on hearing this song
and need to listen to some Dylan to
feel better!
Westlife ballads use those
predictable key changes when the boys manage to rise up off their tall
stools..... oh dear...
The
soppy pop ballad is written to a formula
and lacks emotional realness or any credibility. To
me the difference is 'substance' and having something to say. Those unforgettable folk ballads offer new
insights with imaginative and creative melodies and words. It
is also in the music production.
And
sometimes 'cheesy' can be good too!
The Best Songs
Occasionally a song
comes along that transcend the personal as it has a universal emotion we can
all recognise an share in.
Good Examples - Let
It Be, Imagine, Stand By Me, Here Comes The Sun, Case of You, Something,
Islands in the Stream, Reason to Believe, Sound of Silence,
The Ballad of Hollis Brown
The Ballad of Hollis Brown
Best Folk Songs
Westlin
Winds
Outlaws
and Dreamers
Both
Sides the Tweed
Girl
From the North Country
Vision
of Joanna,
Who
knows Where the Time Goes
The
Blacksmith
Are
you Going To Scarborough Fair
