Apparently, most of the bard tales are extremely new age and not as ancient and folklore-like as they sound.

"Oh, there once was a hero named Ragnar the Red who came riding to Whiterun from old Rorikstead."
- Ragnar the Red

Rorikstead, as the name suggests, is named after the rich farmer who owns the land the village and the surrounding farms are on. So the tale can't be more than 50 years old.

"Down with Ulfric, the killer of Kings"
- The Age of Aggression

Well, considering that Ulfric JUST killed the high king, then this should speak for itself.

Just a little something I noticed.

Of course a bard is going to sing about current events, they're traveling around making a living off of their singing talent. They'll hear rumors and stories, nobody wants to hear the same songs for generations.

Modern day taverns where I am have middle-aged people performing acoustic versions of Matchbox 20 and Oasis songs. I guess Bethesda were just trying to convey a sense of realism.

Makes you wonder what songs they were teaching at the Bard's College before these events. Just "The Dragonborn Comes"? Even that one is based on current events though it could be an ancient song as well, and all bards in Skyrim only know two of those three. I would've liked to hear them tell tales as well if it could've given them more of a purpose than two-song jukebox or random instrumentals.

Damn spoony bards...

well they clearly dont make money because of tiny things like talent and (in the [many times repeated] words of a court wizard) the apptitude for it, they make money because they spread rumor and news (although, skyrim seems ot be in a slow news decade or something)

They also made the Orc women look just like ke$ha..