However, I think it is important to remember that a particular song may stir up uncomfortable feelings in some listeners. Bennet Zurofsky did not say "don't sing this song!" or that "it is wrong to sing this song", just that it makes him uncomfortable and he wished that those who sang it understood why that should be so.

You may think he is being overly sensitive, but he is telling you how he feels and leaves it up to others to decide how they feel about the song.

I enjoy whaling songs. Whaling is a bloody, smelly and unsustainable activity. Listening to those songs glorifying the spirit of those days may make some people uncomfortable. I can rationalize it saing it is a good song and it doesn't advocate going out and killing whales now but others may continue to see the song as a disgusting hangover from a time when this brutal industry was a commonplace activity on every sea of the earth.

Whenever I sing a whaling song, I try to make sure that listeners understand that I know how bloody and brutal whaling was, how dehumanizing it could be.

I think there may be an analogy here.

Masato: Thanks for reminding me that I was trying to think of "The Prioress' Tale".

Sourdough