Bert, believe me--I'd find a way around it. (In that case, "navvy" seems to work just fine.)

I don't know if this is a UK/USA difference, but there is pretty much no way a pasty-white girl in the South can sing that without causing problems.

I'm actually not a complete PC whore, but my thought is that a lot of very offensive terms were used much more casually in the past than they are now because the people to whom they applied were "less than human". It's not a case of "calling it as it is"; using the term "black" or "Italian" can be considered descriptive. Using the N-word or "dago" has an implied value judgment. People who know me know I don't think that way, but most of the time, my audience doesn't know me well.