It can be said that the songs, or cantes, of flamenco are not educational since they are opinionated lyrics of a people persecuted from the past that have evolved into what they are today. It is argued that the songs are not historically accurate. And yet, they ARE historical, memories passed down from generation to generation via tradition. They are the fighting warcries of the fugitives, the morbid laments of the bereft, and the relief-filled rhapsodies of all gypsies and Moors and Jews. Accurate? Not necessarily. Educational? Of course! Although the lyrics of cantes have been altered somewhat throughout the ages, the messages still remain the same. It is the history of Flamenco, the art of ancestors preserved because of tradition. Flamenco cantes are like legends, eternal and sometimes exaggerated but memorable always, paying homage to the past.