Re:Muleskinner Blues. I was surprised that recent recordings by Lonnie Donegan and Van Morrison used the opening:
Good Morning Captain, Good morning Shine.
which I took to be patronising in context. I'm sure other versions, including Rambling Jack, have it as:
Good morning, Captain, Good morning son
and change "line" to "run" to match the thyme. I'd be happier with the second version.
How you cope with a song like "Shine" I don't know:
Shine away your blueses
Shine away your shoeses
which ends:
Just because my hair is curly,
Just because my teeth are pearly,
That's why they call me Shine
I like the tune but the words need to be set in context as it is sung from the point of view of the shoeshine boy, to avoid offence.
RtS