On the "Darling Songs" of Poets, Scholars, and Singers: An Introduction

Too Young to Die: Narratives of Nineteenth Century American Murder Ballads

“…Poetry, for example, aims to escape the banality of prose by experimenting with form; folksong, on the other hand, depends on familiarity and repetition (Toelken 1), making the analysis of such perhaps less desirable to some critics. However, the conventions of folksong narratives illuminate the cultures from which they originated; Dianne Dugaw, for example, argued, “song traditions and song culture supply a vital and socially resonant arena for understanding any historical moment and place” (97). Additionally, scholars have argued that careful attention to the cultural dimensions of song can reveal more than mere behavioral shifts; they argue that culture produces mediated expression.…”