I may have made this point on one of the other threads, but -- RUS can be a blessing even if most people know the song.

I was in a high school that had a strong folksinging tradition, and we didn't need any ******* books because we learned the songs from each other and so there was a Putney version of every song we knew.

That was 50 years ago. There are few such subcultures now. If you & I, having just met at a singing party, both knowing the St James Infirmary Blues, aspire to sing it together, we shall have to do some fancy eyebrow raising or telepathy to figure out which stanza is next, and whether it's old Joe McGinty or McKennedy. If six people are trying it, the thing is impossible; we'll all be tripping on each other's tongues. The version in RUS is something we can settle on at a glance, even tho, of course, it isn't the right one %^).

I would far rather sing with a beer mug in one hand & a chocolate-chip cookie in the other & my eyes on the face of the person opposite (how beautiful people are when they sing!). But sometimes RUS is the lesser evil.