There has been a resurgence in popularity of folk music. Bob Dylan was originally one of the folk icons that made the style of music politically charged, and although controversial, eventually more accessible to for consumption. Recently, bands like Mumford and Sons redefined the style by incorporating raw recordings, acoustic instruments, and the energy that punk bands and alternative rock bands incorporated in their recordings and live performances. Although many people would argue that Mumford and Sons aren’t a rock band, they definitely have a rock energy in their music.
But folk music was never meant to be commercial. Folk music incorporated stories, which traveled by word of mouth. As these stories would pass down to future generations and to musicians alike, people would add and change verses, leaving these songs completely up to interpretation.
Interestingly enough, we still see this phenomenon occur even in modern times, even though it's extremely rare. In the height of the Charleston shooting, full of grief, Peter Mulvey wrote a song about the tragedy. Soon after he posted the video to YouTube, other folk artists preformed the song, adding their own flavor and sometimes even new lyrics.
Before we delve into the significance of folk music, we must understand that folk music is the music of the common people, even though common people didn’t always write folk. (Many traditional folk songs in the early 1900s, such as Home on the Range, were written by lyricists and musicians). It was once a way to pass down stories, and since it has become commercial in the 50s with groups like the Weavers, it began to have political and social overtones. More recently, folk music has drifted apart from its topical subject matter.
But what makes folk music so special? Folk music has one particular characteristic that defines this genre. Folk music is, plain and simply, real. Folk music sounds human. When we listen to folk artists, we are drawn into this live, raw sound. The little flaws in the performance are all welcomed in a folk studio album, as long as the live performance is captured. However, this realness has been caught in rock, punk, and other genres of music over the years. The realness of a live performance is the essential ingredient to that energy I’m talking about. The energy that is brings music to life.
Even though the style of folk music remains true among some artists, many commercial artists tend to over produce their albums, making it seem more like a pop album than a folk album. Also, the further we have drifted away from topical subject matter, we have also drifted away from story telling in folk. It’s not that stories and topical issues are completely vacant from folk, but I can only think of a few folk artists that do this in the 21st century.
There seems to be an injustice done to folk in recent years. Mumford and Sons brought the energy with them, but since them, many others trying to utilize the popular trend of folk music have since made folk music sound like pop, stripping the soul away from folk. I believe that right now, since there is so much political turmoil and so much injustice being done in the world right now, we need protest songs. Even though many folk artists weren’t happy with the success of Bob Dylan since many believed that folk was never meant to be popular, he popularized protest songs. And with these protest songs came an incredible energy and passion. But what have happened to artists like Bob Dylan?
We have so many artists that write protest songs, but very little of them playing folk. We have PJ Harvey, Connor Oberst, and Tom Waits, but it seems like the majority of folk artists nowadays are doing an injustice to artists like Dylan. Most modern folk music incorporates love song lyrics. Nothing against love songs because love songs can be meaningful for sure. However, it seems like a tired, non-confrontational subject. Not to try and make a gross oversimplification of folk music in the 21st century, but it seems to be a genre full of white people singing love songs. Modern folk music seems to be laden with white privilege. We may not need a revolution in folk music, but we definitely need protest songs. It seems we are getting a revolution, but not one that is needed. This revolution is a love revolution. A revolution that puts up blinds, keeping the outside world out of sight and out of mind.
