folk song

noun

a song originating among the people of a country or area, passed by oral tradition from one singer or generation to the next, often existing in several versions, and marked generally by simple, modal melody and stanzaic, narrative verse.
a song of similar character written by a known composer.

Origin of folk song

First recorded in 1865–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for folk song

folk, balladry, ethnomusicology

Examples from the Web for folk song

Historical Examples of folk song

In some respects the folk-song of Devonshire is rather disappointing.
A Book of the West. Volume I Devon
S. Baring-Gould
The origin of folk-song has been much debated, and it need not be gone into now.
A Book of the West. Volume I Devon
S. Baring-Gould
A moment afterward the roar of a folk-song came up in a gust.
Red Fleece
Will Levington Comfort
The negro has no literature save that of his folk-song and story.
Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes
Howard W. Odum
The new songs are then learned and begin their history as folk-song.
Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes
Howard W. Odum

British Dictionary definitions for folk song

folk song

noun

a song of which the music and text have been handed down by oral tradition among the common people
a modern song which employs or reflects the folk idiom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012