My songs are like my children: I can only influence their early stages. Once they are out in the world, they receive more and more external influences, and they become who they become. I retain the honour and pride (or shame) of being the father. But if I try to continue shaping them when they are already too old, that just makes me a bad father, a control freak.

Breezy has amended the words to two of my songs, when he sings them, and good luck to him, if that's how they best express his feelings as a performer. I am more finicky about chord progressions, but even there I would support the performer who makes his/her own variation, as long as it is not simply laziness that causes them to drop chords.

And the old trick of changing a word here and there to evade copyright is starting to get knocked on the head in courts too - it will no longer work in the future. So let's not get too control-oriented, unless it is our livelihood that depends on it (and for most of us I venture to suggest that we do it for the fun, not for the money).

As for parodies, Snuffy said it all for me.