You're right to hesitate, Clinton. When I first joined a black church and made a ton of black friends, I had to excise the term, "I've got...... in spades." fill in the blank. You're really treading on dangerous ground if you're singing about a black Mick! Funny thing is, when I really bend the strings, or snap them doing a bluesy black gospel song, my friend Frankie always says, "Play that guitar, white boy!" And we always get a good laugh out of it. I've also had to drop some of my old-time introductions to songs saying "You ready, boys?" Some blacks are still uncomfortable with that word. None of the guys in my quartet, but when we're singing with other blacks in the audience, some still have painful, denigrating memories of being called "boy." Many years ago, I was standing in the lobby of the Museum where I worked, and the wife of the Director came in and called to a black friend of mine, "Boy, go out and bring in the box on the front seat of my car." I could see the steam coming out of his ears. When I'm singing songs with offensive lyrics... like "Makes a nigger's lips go flippety flop," I just change it to "Makes my lips go flippety flop." Not knowing the context of the song you're quoting, it's hard to tell whether you could change it. Sounds like a "dissing" verse to me. Maybe Spaw could help you... :-)

Jerry