“THE folk song deals with the fundamental, universal realities of human life, realities which belong equally to the present and the past, and which always hold deep meaning for us. Thus, nothing has changed in the relation between God and man in spite of modern atheism; nothing has changed in the relation of boy and girl, man and wife, despite rising divorce rates; nothing has changed in the relation between mother and child despite birth control; nothing has changed in the relation of a man to his country despite treason and cowardice. Folk music sings of life and death, the joy of true love and the pain of disappointment, daily chores and heroic adventure, the jovial comradeship of the tavern, the difficulties of this earthly pilgrimage and the longing for our heavenly home.

“Because folk songs present these universal human experiences in a simple and beautiful form, they have the power to stir the souls of men in every age. They are always contemporary; they speak to us now as clearly and warmly as when they were first sung. We experience today the timeless beauty of the anonymous folk poetry, a beauty often equal to the work of our greatest poets and composers.”

— Dr. Jop Pollman, Laughing Meadows Songbook, Grailville Publications, 1947

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