Folk Hymns vs Folk Hymns

It's been a matter of some controversy in the Catholic church, post the "Folk Mass Era" of the 70's and early 80's to compare the old church music to the new church 'folk" hymns.  It was the subject of a book, advocating a conservative music liturgy,  called "Why Catholic's Can't Sing" which claimed that the new church hymns are unsingable and this is why you don't here a lot of pew accompaniment to the choir.  It's author said that the old high church hymns were very singable and in the old days everyone sang.

An interesting memory.  He suffered from false memory syndrome.  Don't get me wrong, as an old choir boy I loved the old church hymns.  And I, folk music lover that I am, I hate many of the new guitar strumbable "folk hymns".  But I hate them because they are fake folk hymns, not grown organically from the people's musical tradition.

The Catholic church would do well to adopt and adapt many of the old  Southern spirituals Black and white.  They grew up out of a fusion of African and European folk signing, a signing school tradition that started in New England and went South, a form of music called shape note singing that actually owes it's roots ultimately to the Gregorian chant, and the English Methodist practice of putting sacred lyrics on popular tunes, even bar tunes.  Why should the devil have all the good music it was asked.

Catholics will learn how to sing when the church adopts the old folk tradition of singing schools, when decent song books of old high church songs and true folk songs are provided with easy to follow notation and lyrics, and when song picks bear in mind carefully the beautiful and true.  We only sing when we want to sing, when we are encouraged to sing and when we have the resources.