My uncle has played music for approximately 60 years, many of the tunes passed on from his Dublin born father. I find it interesting that he has no problem singing Rebel songs, although a very accurate portrayal of Irish history they are full of violence and hate, but when I sang Stan Rogers' "Barrett's Privateers" he was very upset with the line "God Damn Them All" as he feels there is no need for cursing in music. I don't know how you guys feel, but "gosh darn them all" just wouldn't have the same impact.

Andreas, I hope you were being sarcastic about songs about saving whales, as comments like these are exactly what started this thread. I believe that whales should be saved, but when these songs were written, whaling was a difficult way of life for many people. I don't agree with murder, bank robbing, gambling etc., but should we stop singing "Tom Dooley" or "Jesse James" or "House of the Rising Sun" to name only a very few?