#musicbrainz

Folk songs are so damned messy… I’m on the verge of going down a rathole at https://beta.musicbrainz.org/work/d87c25f9-4a9c...

If you follow the link to the WP page on the Roud index and thence to № 216, you will find that the article is about folk legend A.B. Stormalong, not about a song at all. That article describes the *multiple* chanteys about Old Stormy, including (but not limited to) “General Taylor.”

By contrast, the link to Mainly Norfolk *only* describes the “General Taylor” variant. I would propose that the recordings generally titled “General Taylor” are of one song, and other recordings about Stormy are *different* (though related) works.

Any thoughts?

Lyrical samples: “Oh, General Taylor gained the day! Walk him along, John, carry him along.” vs. “Stormy’s gone, that good old man! Way, Stormalong John.” as just two of the (at least four) distinct variants.