Song Blog: "Fairytale of New York"

One of the most popular modern Christmas songs - especially in the UK and Ireland - is "Fairytale of New York." For many listeners, this cult classic from 1987 is the greatest Christmas song ever written.

The song is written in the style of an Irish folk ballad, and performed as a duet between Pogues' lead singer Shane MacGowan and guest vocalist Kirsty MacColl. This "Fairytale" centres on a drunken man's Christmas Eve reverie and remembrances of past Christmases while in a New York drunk tank. He then dreams about a failed relationship. This is when the song turns into a call-and-response dialogue between MacGowan and MacColl. Their conversations play out like a couple who are down on their luck during the holidays. Unfulfilled ambitions and broken dreams are also referred to as the song reaches its dramatic climax. The only time it gets 'sentimental' is towards the end when the couple declares that they still love each other despite all the hardships and disappointments they have endured.

"Fairytale of New York" was composed by Pogues member Jeremy 'Jem' Finer, and it appeared on the band's third album, If I Should Fall From Grace with God. Finer talked to the BBC about how the song came to be and its enduring popularity over the years.

"Marcia, my wife, said it was a load of rubbish... so she suggested a storyline about a couple who are down on their luck." Finer says. "The guy went out with what little money they had to buy a Christmas tree and presents but, on the way, he decided to go into the bookies and it all went horribly wrong - he came back and they had a row. The row was quite a crucial part of it. But then there was a redemptive quality - love took over from the more material aspects of Christmas."

During the period this song was being drafted, MacGowan had attempted to write a song that would take the form of a duet. "Fairytale" was not originally going to be a duet, but when Finer gave the song to MacGowan, it opened the door for a female vocalist. Their producer Steve Lillywhite had his then-wife Kirsty MacColl add a vocal. Everyone involved loved the rough vocal so much that they decided to keep it in the final master.

The Pogues were an English group who specialized in Irish folk music, with a hint of punk rock thrown into the mix. Their name derives from pogue mahone, which is Irish slang for 'kiss my ass.' This lovely sentiment was actually their original name, but they changed it to the Pogues, partly due to BBC censorship following complaints from Gaelic speakers in Scotland. An appearance on the TV series The Tube raised their profile. Their Christmas hit improved their fortunes, but MacGowan's erratic behaviour led to their decline and breakup. Most of the original lineup regrouped in 2001, with MacGowan returning as lead singer.

Kirsty MacColl was an English singer-songwriter who came from a musical family. Her dad was Ewan MacColl and her stepmother was Peggy Seeger (half-sister of American folk troubadour Pete Seeger). One of her earliest compositions was "They Don't Know," a pop hit for comedienne Tracey Ullman in 1983. MacColl's collaboration with the Pogues led to them touring together in 1988. She dropped out of the music biz for a time following her divorce from Lillywhite in 1994. Tragically, on the eve of her comeback, MacColl was killed in a boating accident while vacationing in Mexico in 2000, just one week before Christmas.

The Pogues retired "Fairytale of New York" from their setlists until very recently. In 2005, they performed it on live TV with Katie Melua handling MacColl's vocal parts. This was the first time the Pogues had performed the song on TV since 1988.