I never really understand how familiarity with a sung can evoke strong dislike for it in people who had liked it before. I tend to feel, possibly unfairly, that who people get all scornful about songs that have become perhaps over-exposed for their own good, there's an element of the fashionista.

How I see it is, if a song is good, it's good for ever, but maybe it's not a bad idea to rest it from time to time, so it can come across fresh, or maybe it doesn't fit a particular singer any more. Like clothes, really.

The above is a very interesting point made by McGrath of Harlow - probably worthy of its own thread.

Yes, maybe a song can go out of fashion because of over-exposure. But as a performer you would probably be sensitive to this and realise your audience would feel that way, and it would perhaps be daft to sing it in the face of this.

But you could be right, that a song might not suit a singer after a while, as things move on.

I guess things like Political Correctness might also influence a singer's decision to include a song or not, for fear of encountering opposition from the audience. Maybe it's a question of bravery or foolhardiness.

As there are plenty of good songs, I don't agonise too much if I have to leave the odd one out for reasons of over-familiarity or changing views.