“Greatest Christmas song of all time” is a pretty bold claim, but I’m gonna throw all reasonable qualification aside and say nothing even comes close to The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.” It’s a bit dark for holiday music — crushed American Dream and all that — but the Irish humor keeps things from getting too depressing. Shane MacGowan reminisces in his gruff, drunken drawl before Kirsty MacColl’s honeyed folk voice joins in. When it comes to call and response, you won’t find many better examples than this duet’s banter. Plus, how can you go wrong when you’re starting with Christmas Eve in the drunk tank?
From all of us here at SlackPost, Happy Christmas!
And yes, that is Matt Dillon in the video dragging The Pogues frontman to his cell.
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Yes, Kirsty MacColl does sing the word “faggot” in a Christmas song. But it seems that “faggot” was Irish and Scouse slang for “lazy person” before America’s favorite homophobic epithet took hold across the Atlantic.