I've found this a really thought-provoking thread, but other than a general rule of 'think about what you're going to sing, and if it's going to offend anyone, think again', I'm probably more confused than ever. My wife hates the first verse of a talking blues I do about our county town, and try as I might, I can't find anything other than a totally neutral mention of our (largely peaceful and thriving) multiculturalism. So far, I'm still singing it.

It's so easy and so misleading to impose present-day standards onto the past: my father is currently receiving the best of medical treatment in a London hospital whose staff represent nearly every nation on earth,and he is full of praise for the 'darkie' nurses - no insult, no condescension - it's just that he grew up in South London in the 1920's and that's the baggage he's left with. His own father described some of his neighbours as Yids, but his best friend was Mr Levy the tailor down the road. I'm embarrassed and uncomfortable with this, same as I was on a Bronx subway train when a group of teenagers routinely used the 'n word' about each other but then, I grew up in a country village.

Nah, still confused.