I am all for censorship as long as I am the censor and I am censoring myself. I would never dream of telling someone what to say or sing. I would hope that I, and others , have the sense to temper our words out respect for the audience and the situation in which we perform.

I once did a job where the theme was PROTEST! I sang every Phil Ochs song I know, every Tom Paxton song, I sang the Fish Cheer. The next day was a Shape Note Sing with some of the same people I sang with the night before. Afterwards we sat around and sang what ever we liked. There were also some deeply religious folks who I had the ability to offend very easily. What would have been the point?

When I sing "Bally James Duff(The Garden of Eden)" by Percy French I usually the verse " I've loved the young women of every land , Its alway been easy for me, Just barring the belles of the Eskimo lands or the chocolate shapes of Fiji." some times I don't. (I don't sing the song to offend the few black people that may be there. I sing it because its a charming and sad rememberance of a more gentile age. Was it a more racist age? You bet. But thats history.) But the act of censoring the song is mine to choose. When I sing The Year of Jubilo, I sing "Workers have you seen the Master?", rather than "Darkies have you..." for the same reasons, it serves no purpose to offend somebody intentionally. But again the choice is mine to make, not someones to enforce on me. And certainly not mine to enforce on someone else. When ever somene askes for the lyrics, I give them the right words and let them censor the song as they see fit.

Lastly, don't confuse censorship with editorial policy. If some one wants to publish a song with a company that has a clearly stated editorial policy that would deny them contract. ( Clearly Stated is the buzz word here.) They have no right to cry censorship. None exists. Its the aspiring songsters fault for not doing his or her homework on what that company wants in the way of submissions.

This will be a fun thread. Thanks Phillipa.

Don