Larry; I see your point about the Roma gypsies but that doesn't seem to be the exact group Cher's song is about! (Hard to tell without asking the songwriter). It seems to me the "people of the town" referred to these travelling folk as "gypsies" but they could easily be any old ethnic group, couldn't they? I really like the song, find it poignant and effective. And it demonizes the prejudiced townspeople, not the gypsies, so I don't understand why so-called gypsies have a problem with it...unless they simply have a problem with that word being used anywhere (which is, I suppose, understandable, but I was not aware it was always seen to be a pejorative term). Sorry but I do not "see the harm" in this one, personally..no more than I see why certain people who have never read "To Kill a Mockingbird" wish to ban it from being read in schools because it contains the "n" word...if anyone read the book they'd realize it denounces racism very powerfully...

Anyway, good to hear Ralph is coming. I will be out of toen at a reunion the last weekend in April (26-28) but would love a chance to see him if I can work it out...hope to see him in the UK in June, too.