![]() ![]() ![]() “Every night I used to have another bash at nailing the lyrics, but I knew they weren’t right,” said MacGowan. Finer focused on the more uptempo portions of the song, while MacGowan wrote around the slower verses and chorus. Written by MacGowan and founding Pogues member Jem Finer and set in its old Irish folk-punk arrangement with tin whistles, flutes, accordion, and a collection of instrumentation, “Fairytale Of New York” was originally started in 1985 and underwent a number of rewrites before it was ready two years later. I have been in hospitals on morphine drips, and I have been in drunk tanks on Christmas Eve.”Įlvis Costello first suggested MacGowan write a Christmas duet that he could sing with The Pogues’ then-bassist Cait O’Riordan-who later married Costello. I identified with the man because I was a hustler, and I identified with the woman because I was a heavy drinker and a singer. “And he’s just won on a horse at the unlikely odds of 18-1, so you’re not even sure he is telling the truth. “The guy is a bum who is living on the street,” said MacGowan in a 2020 interview. In the song, the man is an intoxicated gambler and the woman is a singer who also drinks too much, two characters MacGowan related to when writing the song. “Really, the story could apply to any couple who went anywhere and found themselves down on their luck,” said Clark of the meaning of the song. She’s ill, and he’s just out of his skull,” he said.More broadly, “Fairytale of New York” tells the story of a couple who have fallen on hard times around the holidays, according to MacGowan’s partner and biographer, Victoria Mary Clark. “My part is the man who’s got kicked out of the drunk tank on Christmas Eve night. MacGowan explained the meaning of the song after its release in 1987. “Sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively.” What is ‘Fairytale of New York’ about? “Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it, but she is not intended to offend! She is just supposed to be an authentic character and not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history, and she is down on her luck and desperate. ![]() “She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. MacGowan defended the lyrics in 2018, saying: “The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. ![]() It was also a hot topic last year, when the uncensored version was used during the long-awaited Gavin and Stacey Christmas special. It is not always easy to get this right.” Radio 1 dubbed out the offensive words back in 2007, only to make a U-turn.Īt the time, controller Andy Parfitt called the decision “wrong”, adding: “Radio 1 does not play homophobic lyrics or condone bullying of any kind. The BBC said: “We know the song is considered a Christmas classic and we will continue to play it this year, with our radio stations choosing the version of the song most relevant for their audience.” Decade-long debateĭiscussion of the song’s lyrics goes back well over 10 years. However, the original version will play without censorship on Radio 2, while 6Music DJs will be allowed to make their own decisions. MacGowan has previously defended the song’s original lyrics (Photo: Getty) The word “s***” will be silenced, without a replacement. MacColl first sung the replacement line during a performance on Top of the Pops in 1992. When the song is played on Radio 1, the line “You cheap lousy f*****” will be replaced by “You’re cheap and you’re haggard”. ![]()
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