Folk Music

The term “folk” originated in England and is considered the music of the people. Folk has been used since before the 17th century but became more popular in the Romantic period. Folk songs are known to have simple melodies and are very singable. Folk music were stories written into songs by the peasants. They were passed down generations through generations. My great-grand parents passed songs down to my grandparents, my grandparents passed them down to my parents and my parents passed the songs down to me. It’s an ongoing cycle. People can learn so much about different cultures through these songs that are being passed down to us. Folk songs were about their everyday life or things that they dreadfully had to deal with and go through. There are a lot of different songs that have different meanings to their song. I believe that folk music is very important. When I was a kid, I grew up singing some of these folk songs and enjoyed them not knowing what they truly meant.
The first example is, London Bridge is Falling Down. The lyrics are London Bridge is falling down / falling down / London Bridge is falling down / my fair lady. When I was young, I would sing this song with other children and play a game. There would be two people making a bridge and other children would go under the bridge. After the song was over at “my fair lady”, the two people making the bridge would quickly put their arms down and try to trap one of the kids into their arms. There are many different superstitions or theories about this folk song. Different versions were passed throughout different cultures and different languages so there are not any known evidence for any theory to be true. The first main superstition is that the originally the London Bridge ...

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...ciate what they went through a little bit more than what is being done now. Folk music was a part of their lives and should be passed down in ours for the same values. I feel like folk songs are slowly dying down but they were important to the people back then. These songs should still be well-respected today. I grew up knowing these songs but never knew the true meaning. Now, they seem to be more meaningful to me rather than just a game I would play as a kid.

Works Cited

Alchin, Linda. "Ring around the Rosy Rhyme." Ring around the Rosy Rhyme. N.p.,
2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Schlosser, S.E. "American Folksongs: From Children's Stories at Americanfolklore.net."
American Folksongs: From Children's Stories at Americanfolklore.net. N.p., n.d.
Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
"The Music of Early America." Yankee Doodle Dandy -. Archiving Early America, n.d.
Web. 27 Nov. 2013.