‘Sport and song go together …’ A personal reflection on the art of the sporting balladeer

Abstract

I have been a singer/songwriter for over 50 years and a researcher into traditional song for 40. What follows the preface by Mike Huggins is an analysis and contextualization of those self-penned songs and ballads which relate specifically to sport. Both analysis and contextualization require a description of my personal sporting interest and involvement. This is followed by discussion of the nature of my research into traditional sporting songs and an examination of the content of such songs and the motivation behind their creation. This same activity is then applied to my own sporting songs in order to allow for a comparison with the content of and motivation behind the songs created by the older ‘traditional’ balladeers. This leads to a reflective conclusion on the similarities and differences between my own works and those of the writers of those earlier songs and finally to a discussion of the value of the ‘sporting song’.