The Pogues are awesome. I know like two songs by them that aren't "Fairytale of New York" and they are also great, but "Fairytale of New York"! Oh man, what a song. Like a damned modern Christmas classic. A fine taste of bittersweet holiday magic.
Shane MacGowan's warbly voice echoes the opening, singing about Christmas Eve in a drunk tank, dour and alone, as a bum talks to him about Christmas. As the bum begins singing "The Rare Old Mountain Dew," an old Irish drinking ballad, he reminisces about his past Christmases with a young woman(played by Kristy MacColl).
The song soon becomes a call and response between MacGowan and MacColl, as they sing about their happy first Christmas as immigrants to New York City. Very quickly it turns dark, as alcohol and drug addiction soon take their toll and what was once a loving relationship devolves into angry bickering and name calling(the words "faggot" and "slut" get thrown out in the song). All the while, though, the NYPD choir sing "Galway Bay"(NYPD doesn't actually have a choir). By the end, MacColl insults MacGowan by saying he "took my dreams from me when I first found you." MacGowan remorsefully reveals that not only did he keep her dreams with him, but he built his own dreams around his love for her.
For all the darkness carried inside of it, this ode to a less than merry Christmas is an incredibly beautiful modern classic.
HEY LOOK GUYS IT'S MATT DILLON AS THAT COP AT THE BEGINNING
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