Well ... being a devoted disciple of the Middle Path, I think it's possible to still love and perform music by someone who was a druggie or a drunk -- I mean, Lord knows i love Townes VanZant's stuff and alcohol eventually killed him. And if we stopped reading or singing works by people with substance abuse problems, well, we'd all be singing "Up, Up with People" pretty soon. And there would go half the authors we've come to know and, if not precisely love, at least like a whole, whole lot (Faulkner, Hemingway, etc., etc.)

However, since someone said to me that "In the Arms of the Angel" that Sarah McLaughlin sings is about heroin use, I've had real mixed feelings about the song. I love it and would love to sing it, but if I really think it's about heroin, I simply won't sing it, except in the privacy of my own home -- or maybe in certain situations, but with the caveat that "I know this lovely song is about heroin, but I still love it and hope we can hear it in a different context."

And I"m not certain how pedophilia fits in this discussion, but although I have no problem singing songs written by drinkers and druggers, I can't stand to go to any of Woody Allen's movies any more since he ended up with his adopted daughter. It's not as if I've made some self-righteous declaration, it's just that I think of Woody Allen and sort of shudder and don't feel compelled to go see his movies any more ...

WW