Gather around the dinner table and, when the conversation gets rough, bring up the inevitabilities of Fairytale of New York. Shameful it is that the song is now defined by the deaths of the artist and the alleged scrubbing of its lyrics from radio, those who feel insulted or impassioned by the changes to the song are not so interested in the heart of it. Their outrage is performative. Where this collaboration between The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl may now be defined by the period, by the heartbreak to follow its release, it remains an intense piece of If I Should Fall from Grace with God, an essential tool of their discography not from its cemented role in festivities but in a more generalised and communal spirit, something which goes beyond the most wonderful time of year.
Fairytale of New York certainly has more going for it than simple Christmas trivialities. It may have been spawned out of a dare agreed to with Elvis Costello but The Pogues more than rise to the occasion of what is now considered one of the finest Christmas hits of all. Those merriments of the genre are mandatory and found within the instrumental selection, notably in those joy-filled choruses, but the heartbreak and horrors of reality, the real crush of this time of year, can be heard in the pangs of pain from Shane MacGowan and MacColl. Because of the legend preceding it and the chart success which followed its release, Fairytale of New York finds itself forever tied to the Christmas spirit. But it is much more than a throwaway track to play on Heart FM a few days before you gorge on turkey and vegetables. It is likely one of the best songs from The Pogues, but this has nothing to do with festivities.
By all means is this a Christmas song but it, like Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon or Stop the Cavalry by Jona Lewie, overcomes the festivities and has true heart to it. Part of this comes from the Celtic rock undertones which makes it through in expectedly brash and brilliant fashion. MacColl and MacGowan’s vocal work complement one another tremendously here. Slick bits of sarcasm fall away into genuine reflection, this desire to have been someone. Those hopes of being a standout from the crowd do not make you special but the act of standing out does. Pair those cries for uniqueness with B-Side The Battle March Medley and the perspective of this classic Pogues track becomes far bigger than some holiday slot.
We all have our cries of desire and the songs which make us feel unstoppable. Those railing at the circumstances, at their attitude, those people who see themselves in flashes of MacGowan’s character in Fairytale of New York, may find solace in The Battle March Medley. An instrumental punch quite unlike anything else The Pogues were recording at the time. Punchy thrills with a Christmas tinge can be heard in Fairytale of New York, a song seemingly cursed to be about the tragedies to follow rather than the disasters heard in the heart of the song. Do not be the man who wants to be someone but the man who was someone. Such is the point of MacGowan’s venomous wordplay here – as strong a writer as they come and bolstered further by the incredibly memorable MacColl performance.
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