Just starting the thread again to keep it in bite size chunks. (Is that a good idea?)

It's been mentioned more than once that the world is full of some pretty nasty things. It's not just a human thing. Many of us have seen the nature programs showing killer whales launching themselves onto beaches, grabbing seals and chucking them about between themselves while the seal tries to escape with its life. Or the chimpanzees hunting down monkeys and tearing them apart. It's all pretty gruesome but it happens and to be honest it's as bad as anything humans are capable of.

The point I'm making is that song is just one way of highlighting the reality of life. The song comes from a point of view. Try composing a song from the point of view of the whale and then from the point of view of the seal for example (then compare to the many whaling songs 'A Hunting for the Whale' or 'Bustles and Bonnets'). The real objection is from people having their eyes opened up to the reality of life. Then compare to Cop Killer.

The benefit the human race has is that it is emerging into a civilisation, dropping the vicious behavour that other animals accept. It's a slow process however and many dreadfull deeds still happen. A few hundred years ago those deeds would have been acceptable and quite legal.

So what is acceptable? It's easier to ask what isn't. My view is the only thing that is truly unacceptable is incitement to do whatever horrible thing is being expounded. Incitement is more than words on a piece of paper. It depends on the context in which the subject matter is put forward. For example, singing a song in a pub about killing whales should be acceptable to anyone as highlighting a point of view or deeds of the time. Singing a song about killing whales prior to or just after a whale hunting expedition in which the singer has participated would be pretty unacceptable to anyone who has a problem with whale killing. I guess the same applies to Cop Killing which a lot more people are likely to have a problem with.

Does this make sense?

Sandy