Yeah, 'fraid I'm a total hypocrite as well, if I have to believe in everything I sing. Goodness knows I love whaling ballads, but have given a ton to Greenpeace over the years.

Sing hundreds of songs about guns, murder, wars, battles etc. but find the "pro-gun" lobby mostly laughable.

I love the "idea" of Union Solidarity and sing many of the old songs, but some of the Union bigwigs who've hired me were simply pigs, who threw around terms like "brother or sister" but were obviously as power-mad as the Bosses they hated.

I think (for me) it's a question of "suspending better judgement", just like an actor does when playing a role. For that moment, you DO become who and what you sing about. So even though you may not like the person or the activity, you try to UNDERSTAND them. If you communicate the story to your audience, it's worked. If not, either you or the material was unconvincing.

When I'm singing a Gospel song, I'm obviously very wrapped up in the music and the accompaniment. As far as the lyrics go, it's a bit more complex. When I was a kid I heard George Beverly Shea sing on the Billy Graham TV shows...and I simply enjoyed it. A few years later when I realized that Graham had not lifted a finger to help in the Civil Rights struggle ('cause so many of his flock were hard line segregationists) and that he was buddies with Nixon and Hoover, it changed my outlook. Hard to take lyrics about us all being "God's Children" seriously when His spokespeople on earth (on American TV at least) would criticize hippies, but NOT lynchings. Guess it was hearing Black singers like Rev. Gary Davis that really made me want to SING these songs. Almost all the current prominent (singing) white Evangelists were silent (or worse) during those shameful days, and perhaps that's why I wouldn't be able to sing their music convincingly, but I love the Black (or the ones I first HEARD sung by Blacks) Gospel songs and certainly try to do the best I can with them. It's certainly an issue I've thought about though.

Rick