Thanks all -

Jim - I agree that there's an opportunity there for EFDSS, and the appetite of the organisation has waxed and waned over the years. over the last 10 years or so they've done more of this sort of thing, with Sam Lee's 'Magpie's Nest/Nest Collective' efforts as a promoter standing at the centre of this.

Dave - fair enough - as you can see from my forum history, I'm a fairly new user. I ran several searches for racial slurs - which returned quite a few lyric and post results - and the 'Anglo Saxon' words above, which returned lyric results only. I don't know whether search is disabled for certain profanities, or if (perhaps more likely) I haven't got to grips with the multiple search window options. I applaud your choice not to black up, or to sing such lyrics.

Rigby - yep, I've got Too Long in this Condition, and actually organised this gig for Ali in 2010 where he probably performed the song; though as a promoter, you're scuttling around too much to soak in the lyrics, and - despite having lived with a trainee Rabbi for 4 years previously - I simply didn't have the same appreciation then of the sensitivities around the words in question. As I say above, despite the cesspit of social media, I think many people are more alert to antisemitism now than was the case before. I'd be surprised if Ali chose to sing the song uncaveated now, and I think that voluble audience objection would be far more likely. Having said that, I think most people engage more with the 'textures' of live music rather than the fine grain of the lyrical experience, so many audience members would often be oblivious to such things.

Though these days I find the opening lines of Dachau Blues pretty crass, it is a direct engagement with, and condemnation of, the horrors of the holocaust; and a reminder to heed the lessons. Little Sir Hugh/The Jew's Garden, without caveats, context or explication, just keeps alive the 'blood libel' against Jewish people that - despite the aforementioned heightened awareness mentioned above - a disturbing number of people still seem to subscribe to (I've lost many painful hours arguing with open antisemites on the internet).

Further to my point above - I think about the shock, anger and bewildered disappointment that my Jewish friends would experience if unsuspectingly exposed to the song - how they might feel, to hear that in a room full of non-Jews, and nobody objecting - and I find that prospect troubling.