Fairytale of New York

Album: If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1987)
Charted: 2
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Songfacts®:

  • This song tells the story of an Irish couple who immigrate to America in hopes of making it as entertainers in New York. The song takes place on Christmas Eve, and with the title "Fairytale of New York," you'd expect a happy ending, but these two end up destitute, their dreams in disrepair. It's in the same universe as sad songs for the holiday like "Blue Christmas," but with the pithy dialogue sung in an Irish brogue ("You're a bum!... You're a punk!") it's bawdy fun offering an amusing alternative to Christmas cheer.
  • If you're sick of Christmas and Christmas music, this is the song for you. The couple in the song bicker the whole way through and there's no Christmas miracle. It's a reminder that Christmas doesn't just erase our problems.

    Why would someone write such a song? On a bet. According to Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, it originated when Elvis Costello bet that he and the band's banjo player Jem Finer couldn't come up with a slushy Christmas duet. Costello produced The Pogues' 1985 album Rum, Sodomy & The Lash and the following year married their bass player, Cait O'Riordan.
  • The lead singers on "Fairytale of New York" are Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and guest vocalist Kirsty MacColl, an English pop singer well known in the UK, where her hits include "A New England" and "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis."

    When Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer wrote the song in 1986, they envisioned it as a duet between MacGowan and Cait O'Riordan. They didn't have the song ready in time to release it as a Christmas single in 1986, so they didn't record it until 1987. By this time, O'Riordan had left the group and they were being produced by Steve Lillywhite, who was married to Kirsty MacColl. He had her record a scratch vocal that was so good the band decided to keep it instead of going after a more famous singer like Chrissie Hynde. The song was released as a single in time for Christmas 1987, and in January 1988 was included on the third Pogues album, If I Should Fall From Grace With God.
  • At first, this song had lyrics about a sailor and a distant ocean, but Jem Finer's wife suggested he change it to be about a couple at Christmas who are hard on their luck. Finer wrote another song and took both to MacGowan, who combined the melody of the first with the story line of the second.
  • The song was released as a Christmas single in 1987 and almost became the coveted UK Christmas #1, but it stopped at #2, blocked by The Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always On My Mind."
  • Shane MacGowan was born on Christmas Day, 1957. His parents were Irish but had emigrated to England, where Shane was born. He identified as Irish and was raised in Tipperary by his aunt until age 6 when he moved back to England with his parents and eventually formed The Pogues. Like the character in this song, MacGowan had a severe drinking problem, as did his dad. He became known for drunken antics on stage, and by 1991 his alcoholism left him incapacitated and he was kicked out of the band, replaced by Joe Strummer of The Clash. The Pogues broke up in 1996 and re-formed in 2001 with MacGowan. He died on November 30, 2023 at 65 after a battle with encephalitis.
  • The title was taken from JP Donleavy's 1961 novel A Fairytale of New York, which is also about an Irishman who comes to New York, but with a very different plot. The author told The Daily Mail December 18, 2009: "Technically I could have taken legal action for piracy but as I know Shane MacGowan - I believe his father is a fan of my work - I decided not to bother."
  • The music video was directed by Peter Dougherty and plays out the story of the song, with scenes of Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl in character around New York City. And yes, the policeman pushing MacGowan through the station on his way to the drunk tank is indeed Matt Dillon.

    The video ends with MacGowan and MacColl dancing in the snow, offering a glimmer of hope.
  • "Fairytale of New York" was used to open the 1996 film Basquiat, about a graffiti artist who becomes popular in the art community. It also appears in the movies P.S. I Love You (2007) and Run All Night (2015), the Ted Lasso episode "Carol Of The Bells" (2021), and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).
  • On December 18, 2000, Kirsty MacColl died in a boating accident. This single has been re-released several times for the UK Christmas market. In 2005 it was re-issued to publicize a new campaign for an investigation into the death of McColl.
  • After charting at #3 in the UK in 2005, #6 in 2006, and #4 in 2007 , "Fairytale of New York" became the first Christmas song to make the UK Top 10 three years in a row. The tune has continued to appear in the top 20 each year.
  • During the fifth verse MacGowan's character refers to MacColl's character as "an old slut on junk," to which MacColl responds:

    You scumbag, you maggot
    You cheap, lousy faggot


    In 2007, the BBC began playing a version with the word "faggot" edited out. After a predictable outrage, they began playing the uncut version.

    MacGowan responded to the controversy in 2019 saying: "There is no political correctness to it. I've been told it's insulting to gays; I don't understand how that works. Nobody in the band thinks that's worth a second's thought."

    The singer added: "The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate."
  • The lyric, "The boys of the NYPD choir still singing 'Galway Bay,'" isn't strictly true. The NYPD doesn't actually have a choir, though they do have an Irish pipe band that is featured in the music video. The pipe band didn't know "Galway Bay," so they played the "Mickey Mouse Club March" instead, and the promo was later slowed down to fit the beat.

    The pipe band had been drinking on the coach that brought them to the video shoot. By the time they turned up for the filming they were even more drunk than The Pogues themselves and refused to appear unless they were given more alcohol.
  • A few brave souls, mostly Irish musicians, have deigned to cover "Fairytale of New York," running the risk of backlash because the Pogues original is so iconic. When Bon Jovi covered the song in 2020 on their A Jon Bon Jovi Christmas EP, it gave some fans of the original the taste of a wormy chestnut. The Pogues made their thoughts clear by retweeting this comment from the musician Rob Smith:

    "It's the worst thing to ever happen music, and I am including both the murder of John Lennon and Brian McFadden's solo career in there."
  • In 2004 VH1 poll, this was voted the UK's favorite Christmas song of all time.
  • The Pogues never got much traction in America and "Fairytale of New York" never charted there, but it did gradually find following as Americans discovered it. In 2023, the star football-playing brothers Jason and Travis Kelce released their own version of the song called "Fairytale Of Philadelphia," credited to The Philly Specials (Jason plays for the Philadelphia Eagles). This version quickly garnered over a million streams and brought the song to a much wider audience in the US, including a wide swath of Swifties - Travis was dating Taylor Swift and on the radar of many of her fans.

    The Kelces turn the song into a battle among brothers, with some Philly references and updated insults. Broad Street and the Schuylkill River get mentions, and the boys call each other dirtbag, crum bum, and lousy Jabroni.

    They posted the song on November 15, 2023, just two weeks before Shane MacGowan died.

Comments: 31

  • Jt from Philadelphia, PaSorry, it was The Rare Old Mountain Dew, and not Galway Bay, which was heard in the drunk tank. That is probably even less likely in a 1950s NYC drunk tank.
    The line about rivers of gold also suggests that they never made it to New York.
  • Jt from Philadelphia, PaRe "James from Crawley, United Kingdom
    Does anyone realise that Shane is English not Irish, he was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent South East England.
    In Fact most of the band are English."

    We might be speaking two different languages here, so to speak, but:
    I believe that Shane McGowan is ethnically Irish. I am as well. I know how it works:-). That is why someone might call him Irish. It isn't because he was born in Ireland or not born in England. I've always known he was born in England, and I would always have described him as Irish. Absolutely no offense/offence intended!
    His being Irish probably explains his interest in Irish music. It does.mine.
    Of course, one does not have to be ethnically Irish or Irish-born to perform Irish music or love Irish music.
  • Jt from Philadelphia, PaI find the view of The Page Collective of New York to be quite insightful, however depressing it may be.
    However, the singer of Galway Bay was Bing Crosby, a huge American star of the 1950's. I think my parents had that album (in Philadelphia). (We are an Irish(-American) family, though). So the thought of Galway Bay being sung in a 1950s New York drunk tank never struck me as something that couldn't happen. I wish that was enough to cause me to question your interpretation.
    I've enjoyed "Fairytale of New York" for decades, as I purchased the album, "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" (?), soon after it's release. (Fairytale of New York is not widely known in the U.S.).
    Frankly, I wish I had not researched the song's meaning. I thought it was just an upbeat, happy song about a couple that had had their troubles, but had reconciled. No worries. I'll push this bad news out of my mind soon enough.
    But I don't know if I'd call it a Christmas song. That's like calling Die Hard a Christmas movie. (That's another debate).
  • The Page Collective from New YorkThey never made it New York. He won a bunch of money. They drank and drugged it all away, while concocting this big fairytale of their life in New York. Broadway and all that. They ran through the money. They fought as addicts will do when the easy fix is gone. She blamed him for taking dreams away that she had invented with him. He wakes up in an Irish drunk tank still grasping at the fairytale. They never left Ireland. He wakes up and a guy is singing an Irish tune. There is no NYPD choir, never was. It was all a drunken fantasy they were never going to see through.
  • Sioraf from Macroon, IrelandIt would be an Irish band that would write possibly the most depressing Christmas song ever; at least 2000 miles ends happily. Still great song and unlike Saint Etienne Shane Mac Gowan really was born on Christmas day.
  • Mark from Portsmouth, United KingdomPetter from Sweden. Shane Macgowan did not write 'Thousands are sailing'.
  • Paul from Newtonmore, United KingdomDon't forget the song Galway Bay wasn't written till after the Second World War. This is a contemporary song not a historic one, though obviously it has echoes...
  • Jim from Long Beach, CaGreat song!! I love The Pogues. RIP Kristie!!
  • James from Crawley, United KingdomDoes anyone realise that Shane is English not Irish, he was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent South East England.
    In Fact most of the band are English.
  • Gaza from Edinburgh, United KingdomI love this song sooo much. It is so heartbreaking. How many ppl agree wi me that it is ironic that, although it is thought the greatest xmas song ever, it is actually a song about a tragic, penniless couple whose dreams were destroyed by drug-addiction and poverty? No one really listens to the song. I have had to explain the meaning of the lyrics plenty of times to my friends. It is so sad.
  • Michael from Long Beach, CaThis song has brought me from angry to happy to sad and happy again and again. I think I would like to move to Ireland and reclaim my Irish ancestry. I will do what the Irish do, 'have another one'. Here's to Shane and the RIP Kirsty...
  • Charles from Glenside, PaI don't know if I'd call this my favorite song ever, but it sure as hell is close. It is so Beautifully written and arranged. One would have a hard time finding another song as painfully heartbreaking, and yet so hilarious at the same time as this one.
  • Rob from Lincoln, England'I turned my face away and dreamed about you'; heartbreaking. Truly a great, great song. Recently here in the UK the BBC tried to censor the song to remove the words 'slut' and 'faggot'. Overwhelming public opposition drove them to remove the edit and the song played on BBC radio in its original form.
  • Joe from Dublindylan, from sydney... close but no donut... Póg = Kiss; Mo = My; Thóin! = Arse!

    Póg Mo Thóin... not "pogue mahoge"
  • Erik from Bloomfield Hills, MiWhy wasn't this a hit in America? Americans are so closed-minded when it comes to music.
  • Gv31d03x94b from Gv31d03x94b, CaIn response to - "they've got cars big as bars"
    cars + bars are both called saloons

    From Wikipedia
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairytale_of_New_York

    The Story of Fairytale of New York (2005) (TV)(BBC)
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0495631/

    BBC - Radio 2 - Sold On Song - TOP 100 - Fairytale Of New York
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/fairytaleofnewyork.shtml
  • Lobstarock from Boston, MaLook for Matt Dillon, in a cameo as the policeman, in the video.
  • Helen from Newcastle, AustraliaLike others, this is a Christmas that we don't want to think about. Born in Ireland and, as a child, I can remember an old (to me) woman asking me for a penny. I was a child and didn't have a penny to give her, but such is poverty, in any country. Each time I play this song I remember that old woman - and then do the Irish thing: 'have another one'.
  • Petter from Ã?ngelholm, SwedenI'm kinda fascinated of The Pogues' obsession with irish people travelling to the US. my favourite on this theme has to be their song "Thousands are sailing". there MacGowan's songwriting truly stands out... again...
  • Niall from Ireland, IrelandAbsolutely the greatest Christmas song ever written and a true highlight that for all his sins Shane McGowan is above all a remarkable songwriter
  • Darren from Warrington, EnglandThis year on TV they were going through the video, and the funny thing is that in the video you see "the boys from NYPD choir singing Galway Bay". There is no NYPD choir, and the band that was in the video had never heard the song Galway Bay, so ended up playing the Mickey Mouse Club song instead!
  • Dylan from Sydney, United Statesthe Pogues means the kisses in galic the sentince is pogue mahoge wich means kiss my arse
  • Paul from Galway, Irelandit's a song that when you hear you mourn for Kirsty McColl. She was so talented. Sad song. Brilliant. Irish lyrics - "you cheap, lousy faggot." so irish. "galway bay," I LIVE THERE. I'm part of the song. UP THE IRISH
  • Rocco from Naples, ItalyEven if it's got NY in the title, whenever i listen to this song i go back with my mind in Dublin, and i rememeber of the Liffey river, of Phoenix Park, of Trinity college, of St. Stephen's green, of the temple bar and so on...I'm an italian but i love Irish people and Ireland and i miss it so much: that's the power of music
  • Brian from Philadelphia, Paand the boys from the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay -

    Irish music from a very Irish profession
  • Brian from Fullerton (the Paris Of Oc), CaThis song breaks my heart every time.
  • Paul from Salford, Englandthink Adam is confusing this with Thousands Are Sailing off the same album
    Paul, Manchester
  • George from Bristol, Englandeasily the best christmas song ever - possibly on of the best SONGS ever - brilliant band, easily the best record for xmas ever.
  • Miguel from Dublin, IrelandWithout doubt the greatest Christmas song. With an added poignancy now after the death of Kirsty McColl
  • Craig from Madison, WiOne of my all time favorite Christmas songs. When I first heard this song, I demanded the tape be rewound so I could hear it again, and again and again. 4 times I heard that song in my first sitting, and over a decade later it still excites me every time I hear it. Even though it goes through so many emotions (bliss, melancholy, bitterness) it only makes me giddy, just like a Christmas song should.
  • Gretchen from Glen Mills, PaIn response to Adam's enlightening songfact - "they've got cars big as bars" might indicate at least early 20th-century New York. "Sinatra was swinging," again, implies that the context of the song is somewhat later.
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