Reading that Pat Murphy song, I suppose it could either be taken as black humor or as a scathing commentary. I think it would, at least partly, depend on how the singer presents it. Introduce it with a light-hearted tone and people will probably chuckle because they'll relate to the troublemakers. Introduce it in a dead-serious tone and people will probably feel sad and appalled because they'll relate to Mrs. Murphy and Pat Murphy.

The difference between the two songs seems to be that The Night Pat Murphy Died has the flavor of being written by one of the insiders--an Irish person--and if that's the case, we know that this person is chastising just those particular people who acted like idiots--not all Irish people.

With the Mrs. Stein song, it seems to come from the viewpoint of an outsider which leaves the distinct impression that the derogatory commentary is not directed at just a few "bad apples" but at the whole group. That's what makes it so vicious, in my opinion. If it were written by a Rom ABOUT Roma, even if it were about the same type of misbehavior and one specific incident, it wouldn't be offensive, I don't think. It wouldn't contain the outrageous, demeaning generalizations that make this song so hateful. Does that make sense?