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Should this be a subcategory of Category:Folk songs? While not all folk songs are traditional, are there such things as traditional songs that aren't folk songs? --Allen 02:35, 11 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No response, so I'll make it a subcat. --Allen 03:03, 23 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Though the distinction can be made, it looks to me like whether a given song has been categorized here as Folk or Traditional is pretty much accidental. So my next suggestion is that we actually dump all these songs into the Folk songs category, and turn this category's two subcats into subcats of Folk songs instead. If I don't hear any word to the contrary in the next day or so I'll go ahead and start recategorizing the songs. I'll then make this category a redirect to the folk songs category. --Allen 03:08, 23 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
You removed this category from Dixie (song), but I don't agree with the change. "Dixie" is a pop song, only one from a long time ago. It is more importantly a traditional American song. However, it is not a folk song. It has a documented history of being written by specific individuals and being published by certain companies and being performed by certain companies at certain times. Folk song seems to imply that the song is not only traditional but also a song that no one really knows the history of. Maybe I'm wrong though. — BrianSmithson 09:08, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your response. My feeling is that neither "traditional" nor "folk" is well defined. If forced, I would have defined them much the opposite way as you do: I would have said that "traditional", more than "folk", implies we don't know the song's origins. For example, I think of "Blowin' In the Wind" as a folk song, but not as a traditional song. Plus, "traditional" is the word that people put after a song's title, in place of the author's name, when the author's name isn't known. Now I'm not arguing in favor of these definitions, but rather that the words just aren't well-defined and mean different things to different people, so I think we're better off merging the two categories. I merged "traditional" into "folk" simply because "folk" had a lot more songs in it.
Let me know what you think. I won't object to having "Dixie" back in the "traditional" category if you still think that's best. Also, if you want to see what other songs were in the "traditional" category before I moved them, I guess the best way to see that is to look at my contributions (let me know if you know a better way, though). Most of them have unknown authorship, but there were a handful where authorship is known or conjectured. --Allen 20:07, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Also, of course, if you have any sources that do tease apart "folk" vs. "traditional", I'd be interested. --Allen 20:12, 24 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
