Don Meixner said: "We will doom our language to second guesses for fear we will offend someone with everyword we speak."

True, but the "meaning" of a communication is what is conveyed to the listener, not necessarily what the speaker or writer had in mind.

It's good to keep that in mind when your audience is likely to 'hear' the message of your lyrics very differently from what they "meant" in another time and place.

Sometimes singers have time to introduce songs by way of a bit of background, and this can give you leeway to sing certain lyrics without your own attitudes and meaning being misinterpreted. But when you can't, and when your audience can't be safely assumed to be steeped in "the folk tradition," there's a lot to be said for avoiding words that are likely to be perceived as racist, sexist, etc.