Bill D- All points well taken. I think that's why I didn't post to this thread but to the shorter one which was nearly all "Objection to JohnMehlberger." It's now conjoined here, of course. I think highly of Mehlberg.

I am also forced, very reluctantly, to agree that propriety counts. I sang the "real" version of "Serafina" at our club recently (having asked permission of the crowd - I'll accept that I back off if even one objects). A few days later I sang at a public Earth Day event at a State park. The event was billed as "family oriented" so I had to accept I was, as it were, visiting someone else's house where rules were posted. But "Serafina's" a good chantey with a catchy tune. So I announced the song and asked people to sing along. One lady who'd been at the club shouted "I'm not singing along on that one!" I assured her I knew where I was and I'd adjusted the words some. So she believed me and sang and everybody enjoyed it. Except me, really - it was thinned and weakened and I'd copped out. But it was still a good song and a catchy tune so what the fuck. I just mention this to show I'm not totally inflexable and insensative.

I also see I made a small error when I wrote that such songs "were not suitable for children." That should really continue: "in some countries." Not in the UK or US, perhaps. Especially the US. But there is nothing biological about this - it's a cultural norm. There's nothing Harmful about bawdry unless adults create guilt and perversion and all that stuff. Even the Bible enjoys occasional erotic material.

The problem with libraries is awkward. I know that libraries must comply with the demands and morality of the citizens that pay for the library - they are its bosses. I also know that really few librarians are staid "Marians." Most seem to detest all forms of censorship. Whatever they personally read, they'd have all knowledge available to all. Good luck to them.