Themes Part 2
Themes Part 2
The songs we consider to be traditional have stuck around in the popular consciousness because of common themes that resonate with the general population over different periods of history. Often these are similar to the way in which you might group books or films into different genres. These categories are listed for convenience and some songs might fall into more than one category.
Visit the EFDSS Education Resource Bank for a range of thematic packs of folk songs.
Industrial Songs
With the rise of the industrial revolution, industry was either the daily occupation of many ordinary people or a preoccupation. This means there are songs both of the hardships of day to day work in pits, mills and other industries and love songs associated with those trades. Whilst fishing and whaling songs could be songs of the sea, they’re really songs reflecting important historical trades. Whaling was very much carried out on an industrial scale and as part of an ‘industrial’ process.
Example 1: As I worked a Sewing Machine (Lucy Broadwood Collection)
Example 2: The Factory Lad (Frank Kidson Collection)
Relationships
Just like pop songs, ‘love’ is probably the most common subject for folk songs and it ranges from happy to desperate. Sometimes it is just a strand of the story providing ‘love interest’ to a bigger story, and in other cases it is the whole point of the song.
Example 1: A Sailor’s Courtship (Cecil Sharp Collection, at Clare College, Cambridge)
Example 2: Love it is Pleasing (Henry Hammond Collection)
Rural Life & Occupations
Songs of farms and farming life are common – some are reflections of the people who lived and worked in the countryside, others are romantic exaggerations, written by urban songwriters with a rosy tinted view of life outside the town.
Example 1: Jolly Thresherman (Ralph Vaughan Williams Collection)
Example 2: The Haymakers (Lucy Broadwood Collection)
Example 3: Jolly Old Farmer (Frank Kidson Collection)
See the EFDSS resource on Harvest Songs for more information and examples.
Hunting and Poaching
The distinction between the two may nowadays appear to be one of social class, but these are common themes for rural songs. Many hunting songs are chorus songs intended for communal singing at the end of a day’s hunting and may feature local references.
Example 1: Fox Hunting Song (Lucy Broadwood Collection)
Example 2: In Thornymoor Woods (Cecil Sharp Collection)
