Fairytale of New York

He may have a face only a mother could love and be 55 on Christmas Day but 25 years on Shane McGowan can still belt out his greatest hit “Fairytale of New York”, as he appeared live with what must be considered the remains of the Pogues last Friday night at the O2 venue in Dublin the finale was the song that has officially become the greatest Christmas hit of all time. So sit back and relax and enjoy. The Pogues were playing the O2 Arena to celebrate their 30th anniversary and Shane was joined onstage by Camille O’Sullivan.

Kirsty and Shane

Originally released in 1987 and featuring Kirsty MacColl, the song was written by Jem Finer and Shane McGowan, and featured on The Pogues' album If I Should Fall from Grace with God. It is frequently cited as the best Christmas song of all time in television, radio and magazine related polls in the UK and Ireland.

The song follows an Irish immigrant's Christmas Eve reverie about holidays past while sleeping off a binge in a New York City drunk tank. When an inebriated old man also in the cell sings a passage from the Irish ballad "The Rare Old Mountain Dew", the narrator (MacGowan) begins to dream about the song's female character. The remainder of the song takes the form of a call and response between the couple, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, as they reminisce and bicker on Christmas Eve. It is a paean to failed dreams and failed relationships.

Kirsty MacColl was killed saving her son 12 years ago in Cozumel, México on 18th December 2000. The death of Kirsty at 41 made world headlines. She was at a peak in her career, following the release of an acclaimed new album, and tributes poured in from show business colleagues, friends and fans; obituaries stressed not only her unusually wide-ranging gifts as a singer and lyricist, but also her warm, unpretentious, outspoken nature, which made her a controversial and much-loved figure in the music business.

http://daithaic.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/no-justice-for-kirsty-maccoll.html

But after all these years there has been no Justice for Kirsty MacColl and her family and no accountability for her tragic death caused by a rich man’s plaything at the age of 41? She was killed while scuba-diving by a speedboat traveling fast in a restricted area owned by one of Mexico’s richest men Guillermo González Nova, who was on board with his family. When it comes to corrupt institutions, the Mexican government is almost in a league by itself. All too often, it protects criminals who have the money and power (in Mexico they are the same thing) to buy justice. Apparently, that holds true for a Mexican businessman who, in a just world, would have been found guilty of the manslaughter of Kirsty MacColl.

Kirsty sang in her prescient “Soho Square”

“One day you’ll be waiting there, no empty bench in Soho Square

And we’ll dance around like we don’t care

And I’ll be much too old to cry

And you’ll kiss me quick in case I die before my birthday”

So it is apt that she is commemorated on a bench in Soho Square, London;

 Kirsty MacColl left the world a dazzling legacy of music. Fairytale of New York lives to this day as one of the most moving Christmas songs of all time. Following its release Kirsty toured extensively with The Pogues which provided the inspiration to start writing again.