Nice to hear from Trevor Peacock, and to have a definitive on this. Just to clarify, I never said I believed this to date from the Spanish Civil War, the language is far to contemporary, but it was suggested to me that that is the period in which it was set. This appears to be too specific from the intention of the author, though not contradicting his intentions. It does draw nice new questions about the development of meaning and inherited or associated meanings, a subject of particular relevance for traditional music, the realm of which this pop song has now entered.

Glad the PRS is sorted too, that could have been embarrassing!

All the best,
Fay