The Pogues: Fairytale of New York

[nolabear]

What a monumental song. Poignant holidays to you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0hlbWpa1w

[thirtiesgirl]

1. LOVE IT

:loveya: I love everything about the Pogues, including the three rotting teeth in Shane MacGowan's whiskey-sodden head. This is one of my favorite christmas songs ever.

[cordelia]

2. Love it

RIP Kirsty MacColl

[tigereye]

3. +1

[Coventina]

10. Wow! I did not know about the "accident"! (just googled it)

I was really out of touch with the music scene & its news at the time it happend.

Shocking! But then, I guess the rich get away with murder on a regular basis.

[MorningGlow]

4. With all due respect, I don't get it

Every Christmas teh Loungers sing the praises of this magnificent song, but I just think it's fucking depressing. To wit:

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

Can somebody 'splain, please? I think I'm being dense. x(

[cherish44]

6. It's the weird codependent thing addicts/alcholics have going on

They're fighting like crazy one minute and all lovey-dovey the next. Seen it before with some of my friends. I don't get it either but it's pretty common

[MorningGlow]

8. Yeah

I wasn't asking about the verse so much as why everyone loves the song and praises it to the skies every December. It makes me want to slit my wrists.

On edit: redundantly redundant

[cherish44]

9. It's a Pogues thing... you either dig them or you don't

best way I can explain it :)

[WilliamPitt]

12. It's a Christmas song

from the real world.

[MorningGlow]

13. That ain't no real world I wanna live in

Thanks anyway. :P

[WilliamPitt]

14. You already do

:toast:

[MorningGlow]

16. Okay, let's put it this way

Yes, life is ugly, and I know that people like this are everywhere. Not disputing that. But what I find strange is that a song detailing so much misery and sadness can be "beloved" and listened to with such joy. It's like people who say they love the song are romanticizing the characters' situation. It's like saying your favorite movie is Requiem for a Dream or Bad Lieutenant, that ugly is cool. Sure, be empathetic, be sympathetic, come to the aid of those in misery. Yes. But to think it's cool...? :shrug:

[WilliamPitt]

18. I can only say

There is something indeed lovely about embracing pain, especially if it is familiar, and if you discover that you are not alone within that pain upon hearing a song, so much the better.

This song is about early love and late heartbreak, and pulls no punches about the unfolding of that process.

Think "The Blues."

Same concept. The Pogues give it an Irish twist.

It is beautiful in the way it is sung, in the architecture of the structure that eventually collapses, in the lyrics, the music, and in the truth behind it all.

[MorningGlow]

19. I do agree with you there

I do love the music and the structure. The characters calling each other names, not so much. :hi:

[WilliamPitt]

20. It happens

:toast:

[thirtiesgirl]

22. Sometimes

love for others doesn't come wrapped up in a bright shiny package with a pretty bow. Sometimes it's petty, annoying, jealous, unhealthy and dysfunctional. But it's still love, in all it's squalid grandeur.

[cherish44]

5. Brilliant! one of my all time favorites

nt

[WilliamPitt]

7. You scumbag, you maggot,

You cheap lousy faggot
Merry Christmas ya bastard
Pray God it's our last.

:)

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. Yay! Pogue Mahone!

[Rambis]

15. For those of you in the Gaeltacht....Póg mo thóin (nm)

x

[MiddleFingerMom]

17. A friend of mine... a fiercely Irish Irishman, told me that out of all his many trips to Ireland...

.
.
.
.
...the most memorable experience he had ever had was sitting at a table in a
pub and talking to and drinking with Shane MacGowan.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
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And those who don't get this song have almost certainly not had a relationship
with an iconic red-headed Irishwoman.
.
.
.
My-my-my-my-my... the temper is not the ONLY thing that's blast-furnace hot.
.
.
.
.
.
It MIGHT be nice if everything was, you know... nice, but the richest, most
luscious, flavorful, moan-inspiring vanilla ice cream in the world will probably
not sway those who grew up with and still maintain a preference for other flavors.
.
.
.
Nor, necessarily... should it.
.
.
.

[baldguy]

21. I posted this three days ago. It dropped like a stone.

:cry:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9575613

[dbt]

23. Understanding Shane MacGowan

could take a lifetime, and there could well be a doctoral thesis in it. Here's something I saw in an Ireland guidebook years ago that gave me some insight:

Here's to the great Gaels of Ireland,
The men the gods made mad.
For all their wars are merry
And all their songs are sad.

Dunno who wrote it, but it sure fits MacGowan and all my male Irish friends--especially the musicians. The happiest songs I ever heard from any of them are wrapped around a kernel of sadness.

Further understanding of the Fairytale Of New York mindset can be had in the pages of Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.

Meanwhile, Happy Christmas. Let's all raise a glass to Kirsty--and a dozen more besides!

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

24. I know it might be heresy to post this here...

but Brett Domino just did a cover version of the song with Alexa Goddard and all proceeds from sales go to charity.

It might not have the authentic Irish flair of the original, but it's got a keytar, a ukulele and kazoos!
:yoiks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp81a2XwLck