I feel your pain.
I guess it boils down to “amateur vs professional.”
A professional musician will play what the people want, regardless of personal preference, because he’s being paid to play music.
An amateur plays what they like, because no one is paying them to play something else.
Some amateurs will play to please others, and that’s fine & good. But they don’t have to!
As an amateur, you can always say “I don’t know that one.” 
Not that bad!
I showed this to my wife & she agrees with “FINALLY!”
When I started learning how to play, I would play any type of song, even if I didn’t like it, just to try and improve, So I can look back and say that I have played many a song I didn’t like but remember being thrilled at the time just to have learned something.
Wilwood Flower is one of those classic old songs that goes way back to where everyone has heard it multiple times. Some people may say although was a good song at one time, are now tired of it while others may say that song never gets old. One thing that may keep it alive is, it’s been done many different ways.
I still play it because with all of the different versions, is great practice. Trey Hensley does a version where it’s almost all cross picking, so it helps the person playing it to improve in that area. I mostly play it to try and improve, but am also in the camp of, am tired of it in a way.
Banjo Ben has breathed life into some of the old classics and makes them sound great again as well as fun to play while getting better through playing the song. So yeah, can say sometimes, may not like a song because of having heard it multiple times, but with all the great versions that have been put forth here in Banjo Ben’s forum and elsewhere, I think they will never go out of style.
Yeah, Foggy Mountain Breakdown is a great song that’s been played many times, so can see how could be tired of it. That was actually the song that brought me here as a member. I casually ran across a Banjo Ben version on guitar, and thought, this is really interesting. Was a free lesson along with tab, so I learned it from that. Was lot of great stuff in that lesson for improving technique.
So, in sticking with the topic of the thread, was a song albeit a classic, that I was not that interested in due to having heard it so many times but was brought back to it having heard it played a different way on a different instrument. I thought to myself, what a great idea to play it this way. Is not here in any of Ben’s lessons, but I still have the tab for it someplace, I know I would have kept it, so maybe will revisit that song, after having not played it in a while.
See, generosity pays off. Ben graciously offered a great free lesson, and by doing so won over a person who subscribed to become a member and maybe others as well. I don’t think I would be here now if I hadn’t had run across that lesson. But back to the topic of the thread, you can take songs whether it’s something you like or not and play it in such a way to where you now see it differently.
Glad you like it. Welcome to the forum, Maya!
I couldn’t agree more! But my sister-in-law does not tolerate any deviation from the way it’s done in her church. (I’m speaking my #1 Disliked Song - Unclouded Day.)
Kinda like “That’s not the way Earl would do it.”
What’s getting weird is how many new pickers have been inspired by someone other than Earl. I know of several who came to bluegrass via Old Crow Medicine Show or The Punch Brothers. Not that it matters. What matters is we’re all pickin’ & grinn’!
Could lead to an interesting situation in church if you had people who had strong disagreements on the way a song should be played. These bluegrass songs go back so far to where they have been played lot of different ways. Life is too short for people to have a falling out over how to play a song but happens quite a bit.
My wife’s aunt was a big John Hartford fan back in the day and she was always asking me to learn Gentle on my Mind. I really didn’t like that song and still don’t. If you look at it objectively, it’s about a bum that likes to crash at his on again/off again girlfriend’s house(IDK, there were a bunch of hobo songs back then, maybe hobos were the in thing?). Anyway, I was working on a ship over the holidays and spent my nights working on an arrangement of it from watching Casey Henry and the banjo player from The Big mix Boys YouTube videos. I made a video for her and she was so pleased. I learned a lot about stuff and it made me very happy. I even made a blue screen from my blanket in my room and used a free app to make some effects. If you really hate a song, do t bother, but you can definitely get something out of playing songs you hate or don’t like. Here’s my take on it if you’re interested https://youtu.be/5EaSCF8jveU
OK, I, too, am a big John Hartford fan from way back in the day. Met him on a couple occasions. While I kinda sorta agree with your “objective” interpretation of the song, it’s not about a “bum.” Here’s why -
A Tramp travels & will work. (“I’ll bust up some firewood for you, m’am, if you feed me lunch.”)
A Hobo travels, but does not work. He’s the person that steals the pie from the window sill.
A Bum neither travels nor works. (Think “that no good brother-in-law.”)
And yes, hobos & tramps were a “thing” back then. Hitchhiking across the country to get to Woodstock…or Canada. Or just to see the country you had been fighting for, as in “First Blood,” the original Rambo movie. Or “Easy Rider.”
“Lord I was born a rambling man…”
In many cases they were retracing the steps of their fathers & uncles who rode the rails during the Depression.
Highest compliments for being able to play & sing at the same time. I’m just now finding out what a challenge that is!
And your enthusiasm for the song comes through nicely. 
And for John Hartford’s take on “Gentle on My Mind” and the impact it had on his life take a listen to “Because of You.”
I would add Hard Times to your list of movies Banjoe, the classic film starring Charles Bronson and co-starring James Coburn. Some of the most beautiful music ever played over the opening credits that set the tone for an all-time great film.
Gotta agree. That is a beautiful melody.
Of course, the title reminded me of the great Stephen Foster song.
But we’re getting off topic into songs we like!
Yeah Stephen Foster, maybe the first American Rock Star.
When I made that, it was the first time I’d ever recorded myself (I think). Also, I printed out the verses and taped them to a wall but when I started I was reading them side by side instead of down the page so the lyrics really didn’t make sense. So then I was thinking, “How the heck did anyone like this thing? It’s a bunch of nonesense.” It made a lot of sense when I figured out I needed to read it down the page.
Yeah, I agree with what you are saying about that song because I never much cared for it myself. Overly wordy overly sentimental sort of in the same vein as the left my cake out in the rain song. I believe the term for this type of music is Schmaltz. If I sound a bit harsh, then all apologies to anyone who likes that song, but just not my thing.
OK, that’s funny! There are days we all do goofy things.
Still, playing banjo & singing does not come naturally. It takes a lot of dedication & work…which is extra difficult with a song you don’t like!
Hartford would agree. He once said he wrote it “during my wordy period.”
Actually, he wrote the song
That’s what I said -
"He once said he wrote it “during my wordy period.”
He also said he regretted writing “Granny Won’t You Smoke (Some Marijuana”)
But he never regretted writing “Gentle On My Mind,” for that song gave him financial freedom for the rest of his life.
Oddly enough, the same could be said for Randy Brooks, who wrote “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.” Maybe not as $ucce$$ful as “Gentle,” it’s still paying dividends, but now it’s a paltry sum.
"The song has earned him fans around the world, sold more than 11 million copies and launched a merchandising empire that includes an animated special, musical greeting cards, reindeer toys, ornaments, an iPhone app and more.
At one point, the kooky carol — about a grandma who drank too much eggnog and got plowed by Santa’s sleigh — bumped Bing Crosby “White Christmas” from the top of the Billboard Christmas singles chart.
The main reason, however, is that the song that used to appear on countless Christmas compilations now gets most of its play through streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, and, well, that changes everything.
“I used to get royalties in hundreds of dollars and now they are in hundredths of dollars,” he said, pulling out a recent royalty check he got for a whopping 44 cents.