FOLKSONGS

1
FOLKSONGS

• LYRICS
• AND
• BALLADS

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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)

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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)

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Types of Folksongs -- IILyrical 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)

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Types of Folksongs -- IIIBallads/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)

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Types of Folksongs -- IIIBallads/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)

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FolksongsLyrics 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.

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Folksongs vs. Artsongs (popular)

• Folksongs are usually conservative, reaffirming
  the values of the group, reinforcing a sense of
  community hence they contain, repetitions,
  cliches, and standardized symbols.

• Art songs are more exploratory, innovative in
  music and wording with new expressions, and fresh
  metaphors and symbols. Also, they do not usually
  have variants.

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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

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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

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FolksongsContent 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