We Were Young and Sure to Have Our Way

As I think about the song for Folk Friday I always find myself wandering afield from traditional folk music. The Carters, the Weavers, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, those are all legitimate folk groups who sang traditional songs that define the genre.

But what is the genre? This week I'm going to post one that I think qualifies, even though the orchestration is so much more than a guitar and voice. There are strings, I believe a tambourine sneaks in there at some point, and near the end a choir of children join in. This song is a folk tune to me because of the lyrics more than anything else - it's a simple song of the common threads that bind all humanity together. Songs of universal truth as fundamental as this one have to be called folk music.

After all, hasn't everyone been young and sure to have their way?