What songs are folk songs?

Folk songs (folk songs) originally refer to the traditional songs of various ethnic groups. Since ancient times, the ancestors of every nation have their own songs. Most of these songs don't know who the author is, but they are passed down from generation to generation. The folk songs we are talking about today mostly refer to the folk songs in the pop music era, which are accompanied by acoustic guitars and sung in a natural and frank way, singing the simple life feelings of everyone. WOODY GUTHRIE, an American folk singer, recorded the earliest folk songs in 1950s, so she is recognized as the founder of modern folk songs. Then pete seeger and The Weaver continued to promote this kind of music. During the Vietnam War in the 1960s, anti-war folk singers such as Bob Dylan, joan baez, Peter, Paul and Mary became the voices of the times.

Folk songs, people's songs. From ancient times to the present, regardless of east, west, north and south, every era, every region, every nation and every country; Under the influence of different geography, climate, language, culture and religion, there will inevitably be a kind of self-entertainment, cultural inheritance or catharsis of the essence of life. They will use different colors to convey their history, civilization and love, and folk songs are also an important part of them. Sociology or the public are commonly known as folk songs.

By analogy, I will find that there can be China folk songs, American folk songs, British, Russian, Scottish, Australian or African folk songs and so on. Just like if you go to the Oktoberfest on the roof of the ocean terminal these days, you must have heard a lot of Prussian folk songs played by them with guitars and accordions.

The characteristic of folk songs/ballads lies in whether they can reflect their origin, environment, cultural characteristics/quality, not just the number and weight of instruments used. (Of course, it is undeniable that musical instruments themselves can often reflect the cultural background of folk songs. Today, we live in Hong Kong, and the folk music culture has long been dominated by the western canopy. Most of the folk songs we are talking about today are also western (American) folk songs.