These compositions are the workmanship of famous writers in Punjabi and form part of the written literature, but the love tales for untold generations have also been a part of folklore. Folklore is so much a part and parcel of village life that the old and the young virtually live on it. On moonlit summer nights when people sleep in the open, or during the cold nights of winter when they are wrapped up in their quilts, all enjoy listening to these folk-tales. The daily conversation of the Punjabis is so replete with proverbs and sayings that almost every fifth sentence is a saying. The social, religious and cultural life of a community lies embedded in its folk-songs.
Punjabi folksongs are varied and colourful.
Laughter, happiness, pain, sorrow, all form ingredients of these songs. They are simple, charming, and full of the sincerity of emotion, and the purity of feeling. The entire Punjabi culture, so to speak, is reflected in them. The Punjab is inhabited by people of different sects, religions and cults which have their own modes of prayer and worship. But since folk poetry belongs to a whole social group, only those songs become popular which are acceptable to the entire community.