Well I have sat and read this one way in to the small hours and I feel a lot more knowledgeable because of it. I would like to thank all of the contributors for their comments.

Someone asked about trouble being caused by the singing of songs. This was not in the Victor Jara way of trouble but the relationship between my friend and I was never the same after this following incident.

We went together to a regular gathering where we thought we knew the other people there quite well. Quite out of character for the performer, a song was sung there that my friend stated that he found so offensive that he asked the singer to stop or he would have to leave. The singer, mainly I think, because he was challenged in this way carried on and my friend left. This happened a little too fast for me and I stayed to try and assess what had happened. This was the cause of my friends concern as he thought that I should have left with him. In fact, I did leave very shortly after but he did not know this.

The song was sung in that 'mock' style described here and contained lines like "throw another n***** on the fire", though there may have been some irony intended. I tried to find out more about the song and why he had chosen to sing it but feelings were running high and that didn't happen and we did not go there again. My friend and I did reach some understanding about the events of that night but things were never the same between us.