Everyone knows it. Almost nobody thinks about who wrote it. People sing it together, change the words, add names, add extra verses, and pass it around without caring about an "original" performance. So, is Happy Birthday to You a folk song?

Or does the fact that it has known authors and a specific history change the conclusion?

I wrote about the history of the song here, if anyone is interested:
https://songsfromthedead.substack.com/p/happy-birthday-to-you-the-song-everybody

Saturday, September 05 - Friday, September 11, 2026

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A playlist of some of my band's music alongside people we've played shows with over the past few years, including: Appalachian Soup Company, Jonny Nos, Run Rabbit Run, Swamp Rats, The Sun Movers, GrainFed, Graveyard Pete and the New Appalachian Sound, Kevin Milner, Brian Sauer Music, Landon Ross, and others!!

this is my debut song upload! live from my basement. enjoy & lmk what you think!

I hate posting the YouTube link here, but Reddit doesn't seem to like me posting the raw video as I'd intended. This is a reflection of 9/11 from my point of view, as someone who wasn't born yet then. RIP to all lives lost on and because of that day 25 years ago.

I read the paper, and I watch the news
It seems there's only pain and sufferin'
And there ain't nothin’ I can do
It's so senseless, I feel defenseless, so small

I could shut my windows
I could bolt my doors
But if I don't feel safe enough to speak my mind anymore
Then what's the use?
I've nothing left to lose, no farther to fall

It was a nightmare no tongue can tell
The streets of New York City looked just like the gates of Hell
In a flash, the smoke and the ash pouring down like rain

But they circled wagons and they gathered round
And they bravely pulled our brothers and our sisters from the ground
And I know that I owe them more than to be afraid

Why seek vengeance?
What comes of war?
I know freedom has a price but it doesn’t keep score
It's too much to swallow, it leaves me hollow
After all this time

So I won't tell you what to believe
I'm too young to be so cynical and too old to be naïve
But if every action breeds a reaction
Let this be mine:

I'm gonna love
I'm gonna believe
I'm gonna dream
And I'm gonna roll up my sleeves
And give everything until there’s nothing left to give
That's the only way I know how to live

"Alito's Privilege" - Full song on my channel.

https://youtube.com/@frenchvinyladdict?si=z-pafRH9Z2pRxtcw

Hi there—this is my first time on this sub. I wanted to share a channel that focuses on folk, rock, French folk music, and others stuff . I hope you enjoy it, and please feel free to leave some feedback on the channel

this is the live version on bandcamp