FOLKSONGS

LYRICS
AND

BALLADS

Folksongs--Definitions
Folksongs are words and music that circulate orally in traditional variants among members of a particular group. (Brunvand) A song becomes a folksong when it begins to be passed along and rephrased . . . it also functions as a way of articulating shared attitudes or feelings. (Toelken)

Types of Folksongs -- I
Wordless folksongs (melodies)
(e.g. El Condor Pasa)

Near songs: cantefable, play, and game rhymes (e.g. Ben Franklin) Functional songs: lullabies, work songs, army marching songs, play-party songs, childrens game songs, mnemonic songs
(e.g. ABCs)

Types of Folksongs -- II Lyrical folksongs

Lyrics, blues, spirituals, religious songs, homiletic songs, songs of courtship and marriage, nursery and childrens songs, cummulative, camp and school songs, dialect songs, nonsense, parody, regional and occupational, cowboy
(e.g. Amazing Grace, This Land is Your Land, Harrison Yankee Doodle)

Types of Folksongs -- III Ballads/Corridos

Morality mode: Begins with a violation of a taboo, law, or common sense and leads to tragedy or retribution. (e.g. Battle Hymn) Romance mode: Begins with an expression of loneliness or worry about a loved one (usually separated) and ends in the union of the lovers.
(e.g. Pretty Saro)

Native Ballads from America: War Ballads, Cowboys and Pioneers, Lumberjacks, Sailors, Outlaws, Murders, Tragedies, Negro Ballads.
(e.g. Yankee Doodle, Dixie)

Types of Folksongs -- III Ballads/Corridos (cont)

Corrido Variant: Begins with an introduction to either a romance or a heroic individual. As the corrido progresses, conflict arises and then tragedy occurs. (e.g. Corrido of Gregorio Cortez, Corrido of
Gerardo Gonzalez, Muddy Jesus)

Folksongs Lyrics and Ballads

Lyrics emphasize the personal experience of an event, the emotional dimensions of a story. They are often sung in first person. Ballads emphasize the actions or event in a story. They are often told in third person. Corridos emphasize the heroic actions and usually a resulting tragedy.

Folksongs vs. Artsongs (popular)

Folksongs are Art songs are more usually conservative, exploratory, reaffirming the innovative in music values of the group, and wording with reinforcing a sense of new expressions, and community; hence fresh metaphors and they contain, symbols. Also, they repetitions, cliches, do not usually have and standardized symbols. variants.

Folksong Characteristics
Fluid in form and content Heavy use of overstatement and understatement Concrete and specific language Conventional expressions and symbols Highly repetitive Often incremental

Music Links
I Hear America Singing from the Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/ihas/ihashome.html

Folk Music Score Sheets:

http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~martjung/

Voices Across Time Resources:

http://www.pitt.edu/~amerimus/vat/VATbiblio2.html

Folksongs
Content and Changes Content
love death the night visit (seranade) parting at morning (aubade) wooing in open field (pastorelle)
Typical changes during transmission magic and supernatural lost sex, incest, kin-murders lost words, phrases, & symbols whose meaning is forgotten--lost local names added Christian elements added