Sad Songs in the Folk Tradition

​Starting in my teens I knew that my tastes leaned more toward sad songs, and not so much to party music. I would consider myself a happy person, who laughs a lot, but for some reason I gravitate toward the melancholy in terms of music, especially in my choice of folk songs. Like Elton John said, “sad songs say so much.”
            This taste for the tragic, in fact, is likely one of the biggest reasons I’ve become predominately a traditional folk singer. In modern popular music we rarely hear songs about tragedy, death, war, etc., and yet these are very important parts of life for all of us. Most of my all-time favourites in the folk tradition—“Loch Lomond,” “The Butcher Boy,” “Bury Me Beneath the Willow,” “Rosemary Lane,” and “Sir Patrick Spens”—are tragic songs.
            It’s not that I don’t appreciate the lighter side of music. When I go out with friends for drinks or to a house gathering, upbeat music is the right choice. I can even enjoy electronic dance music if I’m out on the town with the Missus. But I think that the folk music tradition is reduced to only upbeat drinking songs by a lot of pub musicians.  Such performers are catering to an audience uninterested in the full scope of the tradition. That’s fine for them, but I crave the “deep dive” into traditional folk music.
            My love for the more-serious folk songs has created a conflict for me in terms of performing at pubs and bars. The audiences there often aren’t interested in paying attention to the lyrics of a song that tells a story, and especially not if the tempo of the song is slower. I can understand that, but I’m also not willing to give up the music I want to play, so YouTube and studio recording are the obvious solution. People can choose to listen to my music when and if they feel like it, most likely in the quieter moments of life when the songs can be given the attention they deserve. Going forward, I plan to scale back my live performances in public, and to seek out venues where the type of folk music I enjoy can find an engaged audience.
 
            So, what type of songs do you most enjoy? Is there room for sad songs on your playlist? And why?

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