What Do Lyrics Mean to Folklore?
One of the three main categories of folklore is verbal folklore. This consists of poetry, songs, folktales, legends, and any other kind of culture that is passed between generations through oral or written communication (Gross, 2022). While songs do not have to have lyrics attached to them, instrumentals usually fall under the customary category where they are labeled just as "music". The existence of separate subcategories for music with and music without lyrics presents the idea that lyricism is a key component of folklore, and powerful enough to set itself apart.
Interpreting Folklore
Before one can address why something is important to folklore, you first have to know how to interpret what you are reading and learning about. Folklore isn't one set idea from which to analyze things but involves looking at psychological influences, sociological influences, function, gender theories, power dynamics, and much more (Sims and Stephens 2011, 180).
Having a broad spectrum of understanding means that it is necessary to identify different ways of interpreting the same piece of work. Under the "Songs of the Pandemic" section of this website, there are brief explanations and interpretations of eight songs and their lyrics as they relate to the pandemic. These are rough analyses that look at the overarching tones of each song, but interpretation can go beyond just what has been provided. The way to interpret folklore is to know that each interpretation is correct in its own way.
​
"An item's function can be meaningful in different ways, not only within a single group but also to more than one group." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 183).
Modern Folklore
An issue that can arise from time to time, is the perception that folklore is only the study of historical texts, traditions, etc. The idea of a legend isn't often associated with a time period that houses Walmarts and Taco Bells. However, it is important to continue to analyze and document folklore in the modern era. As time passes, folklore begins to age and then vanish. This is partially related to lacking preservation of some historic materials, and those who know the oral traditions passing away (Virtanen 1986, 223). If we don't keep track of folklore, there are important pieces of history that may be lost in the years to come.
Creative Industries in the Pandemic
Music, with or without lyrics, exists within the creative industries. These industries often depend on in-person attendance, the ability to perform for an audience, to show their work to the world. Even well-established creative businesses like Broadway were heavily damaged by the Covid-19 shutdowns. For those in the music industry, they could no longer play shows, promote their music on talk shows, or even make their usual kinds of music. Several artists, including the eight showcased on this website, found ways to harness the feeling of the pandemic and make it successful despite not being able to go through normal channels. This is an example of the resilience theory, a theory which posits that those who adapt quickly in times of intense stress and crisis are the ones who survive (Khlystova, Kalyuzhnova, Belitski 2022). These people showed large rates of success with minimal customer dissatisfaction, as often happens with pandemic related changes.
The hits that were taken by the creative sectors as the pandemic ramped up were at times too much for smaller businesses to come back from; however, the success of remote based connection with supporters, not only in music but in all forms of art, shows that there are ways to work around traditional restrictions (Khlystova, Kalyuzhnova, Belitski 2022). Though the ideal is to be back to in person events, the creative industries may have been able to unlock a way to reach more people if the online components remain in place.
Lyrics Across Culture
All of the provided examples of pandemic music are American artists and are all in English. This comes from the fact that I myself only speak English, but it would be foolish to not bring up the fact that lyricism is not a uniquely American form of folklore. Two examples of lyric based traditions, both of which are still going on today, are corridos and decimas.
​
Decimas and corridos are ballads that come from Puerto Rico and Mexico, respectively, and consist of eight syllable lines and set rules for how the ballads are allowed to rhyme (Gross 2008, 219). These ballads can exist in any context and can be in reference to any subject. Decimas tend to cycle around a longing for a life of farming in the Puerto Rican mountains while corridos revolve some around romance but are largely free to go for any topic they want.
One man who is revered in Mexican culture is Gregorio Cortez, a corrido master. He was unfortunately killed, but his legacy as a wonderful creator of corridos has long outlived him (Paredes 1975).
​
These ballads are lyric based. The focus is on how perfectly crafted their words are and they are of such importance in both countries that there are competitions to see who is the most masterful writer. The importance of lyrics in culture extends far beyond the borders of the United States.
Lyrics as Emotion
From the snippets of lyrics on the home page, the descriptions of the songs, and the songs themselves if you have followed the links to listen to them, you can most likely gather that the majority of them present sadness, meloncholiness, anger, and generally just bummer tones. It has been found that when a song is exhibiting emotions of sadness or anger, having lyrics causes a far greater emotional response, happy songs on the other hand receive a greater emotional response if they remain instrumental (Barradas and Sakka 2021, 3). Lyrics in songs truly have an influence over emotions and this a part of why there were several examples of songs about Covid-19.
​
Creativity is largely guided by emotion. When the pandemic struck and the wole world had to retreat into quarantine, everyone was going through times of intense emotional turmoil. These artists put their feelings and experiences on a page and were then able to share that with the rest of the world. The effect was hearing songs that elicited an emotional response, but also that helped put what we were all going through into perspective.
​
Lyricism tells a story of a moment in time. Whether it was a hundred years ago or a thousand miles away in another culture, the songs of the world have the power to change us.
