Fairytale Of New York
Year: 1987
Written By: Shane MacGowan, Jem Finer
The
loveable Christmas classic 'Fairytale of New York' was made famous
by Irish rock group, The Pogues and featured Kirsty MacColl on the
track. The song was released in 1987 in a bid to claim the title of
Christmas number one. The song was written by Shane MacGowan and
Jem Finer.
This Irish
folk ballad was originally meant to be a duet between Shane
MacGowan and Cait O'Riordan (The Pogues bassist), however O'Riordan
left the band a year before the release of this song. This event
eventually led to Kirsty MacColl taking over O'Riordan's role in
the duet.
The video
to this song is about a drunken Irish immigrant who on Christmas
Eve is reminiscing about past happiness. A man is also featured in
a jail cell singing 'The Rare Old Mountain Dew'. This drunken man
then appears to begin dreaming about a female character. The song
then continues, showing a couple both drunk yet still reminiscing
and bickering together on a Christmas Eve in New York
City.
The New
York Police Department Pipes and Drums unit appear on the song.
Actor Matt Dillon (from 'There's Something About Mary') appears in
the music video for this track, playing the role of the New York
Police Department's patrolman who apprehends and arrests the
drunken man in the video.
Being
released in early December 1987, the song was in the hunt to become
Christmas number one. It did not claim the number one spot in the
UK Charts but did however peak at number two. 'Fairytale of New
York' did though reach number one in the Irish Charts. The song was
beaten to the UK Charts Christmas number one by the Pet Shop Boys'
cover of 'Always on My Mind', which was previously made famous by
Elvis Presley.
This long
was later re-released for Christmas 2005, eventually peaking at
number three in the UK Charts. The proceeds from this release were
donated to a variety of different homeless charities and perhaps
more notably to the 'Justice for Kirsty' campaign, which was an
attempt to find out the 'real' truth behind the death of Kirsty
MacColl in 2000. MacColl was killed in a boating incident in
Mexico.
'Fairytale
Of New York' has been covered by various artists such as; Coldplay
and Razorlight.
Fairytale Of New York Lyrics
It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
That Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true
They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind blows right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night
The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day
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
Merry Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last
I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you
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