Shane MacGowan, lead singer of the legendary band The Pogues, died today at the age of 65. While the Pogues have many great songs, it’s “The Fairytale of New York,” one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time, we’re here to celebrate today.
If you’re not familiar with this classic, stop what you’re doing right now and bask in its melancholy magic.
(Content warning: While “The Fairytale of New York” is a fantastic song, it is from 1988 and uses a slur relating to sexual orientation. Debating its appropriateness is a pastime for a certain type of person who gets really angry when language evolves, and they want to be able to shout said slur, and then point to the song as their defense. The Pogues have called attention to how awful those types of people are, and how society evolves. Here is an article from queer publication The Pink News regarding the annual discourse around the use of the word.)
Also, yes, that is Matt Dillion in the music video. “Fairytale of New York” really does have it all. Pathos. Christmas. Black and white imagery. Evoking a Christmas past that may have never existed, except in your memory. It’s a sad girl introspective winter BINGO for me at least.
Maybe it’s because I discovered this song at a seminal point in my life when I was finally living alone in a big city and tasting adult freedom for the first time, or maybe it’s because I firmly believe the gloomy, melancholy Christmas songs about life not turning out the way you thought it would are the best, but this song touches something deep, and primal in me. It somehow feels both very much in the present but also connected to a time in the past when you had more hope, and maybe things were just a little bit better. At least, that’s how you remember it.
The fact it occurs during the Christmas period, a time we’re told is supposed to be rife with joy, but in reality also has extremely complicated feelings (at least for me!) just adds to the pathos to create a song that is like no other. It truly is a Christmas classic.
In true Pogues fashion, it’s rumored that the song was created on a bet with another famous musician. According to The Independent, “the song was reportedly created as a result of a bet between Elvis Costello and The Pogues lead singer Shane McGowan, that the frontman couldn’t come up with a Christmas record that wasn’t slushy.”
I’m not the only one who loves this song so much. It was voted the most beloved Christmas tune of all time, as well as the most-played Christmas song, in the United Kingdom. They have good taste in Christmas music over there, what can I say?
Christmas brings on the feeling that expectations can never meet the reality of the holiday, despite what Hallmark movies, your fuzzy memories of the season as a child, and what other people seem to be experiencing. “The Fairytale of New York” is the embodiment of the slightly let-down sad undercurrent of the season that’s always there, humming under the surface, if you look for it. Christmas can be a profoundly lonely time, and the song celebrates that. It embraces the fact that at one point, we all “could have been someone” with the sharp response “well, so could anyone.” We’re not special in our Christmas misery, but we’re also not alone in it, either. If no one else is, The Pogues are right there in it with us.
Like I said, I prefer the sad Christmas songs. “Last Christmas” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” run on constant rotation during the season at my home, as does, obviously, “The Fairytale of New York.” It’s nice to be reminded that Christmas, like life, can be hard—but we’re not alone in the struggle. Everyone is struggling, and I find comfort in that. I will forever appreciate that The Pogues, and the late, great Kirsty MacColl created a wistful, slightly sad Christmas anthem for the rest of us. While I do appreciate the happier, pop-ier Christmas songs, too, sometimes, you just want to sit in the emotions and embrace the sadder parts of the season. Thanks to The Pogues, and Shane MacGowan, you can.
(Featured Image: Pogue Mahone)
