Fairytale of New York is 25

TheBunk1 · 12-12-2012 06:24PM

up for anything wrote: »

I hate and detest this song.

The story in the song reminds me of the miserableness of life for some of the older Irish men I met when I first went to London in the mid 80s. Married men in their 50s and 60s working like dogs all week on building sites, living in disgusting shared houses with young lads (who still had the advantage of hope and the optimism of youth) in order to save money, and sending their wages home every week to their struggling families back in Ireland, keeping only a few pounds back so they could sit over a few pints in dingy pubs like The George in Southall on a Friday and Saturday night wishing they were back home in their own houses with their wives and children and not knowing when they'd be able to return home for good to their real lives. I think people have forgotten that it wasn't only the young and single that left Ireland back in those days in order to earn some money.

That song, for me, embodies all the hopelessness, anguish and dead ends that some of the Irish have suffered through having to leave their country to seek employment abroad. I can't bear to listen to it.

^^^^^
image1.jpg

RainyDay · 12-12-2012 06:36PM

krudler wrote: »

you know whats worse, Springsteen's version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, hate it.

You have no soul.

Micky Dolenz · 12-12-2012 06:42PM

I have yet to hear it this year.

branie · 12-12-2012 06:43PM

One o fmy fav Christmas songs :-)

jonasjones · 14-12-2012 07:00PM

Love it love it love it love it love it. I understand how people think it is overplayed - for a month a year it is played non stop - but I look forward to it every single year. Best Christmas song ever written, no doubt!

dd972 · 14-12-2012 07:05PM

I know Shane MacGowan's place in history is assured, but I feel a bit short changed by his lack of creativity since the 1990's, still, can't force him to make music if it's not his wont.

krudler · 14-12-2012 07:07PM

RainyDay wrote: »

You have no soul.

Its an awful rendition of it

teddyboy · 14-12-2012 07:48PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoVHclTIJjQ

14-12-2012 08:15PM

I don't mind the song. What I do mind is the PC nutjobs at MTV et all who insist on censoring it. I know BBC Radio 1 did a few years ago and there was uproar. I'm not talking about f****t by the way... MTV even censor "slut" and "junk."

fryup · 22-12-2012 09:33PM

just to let you know...........theres a programme about the song on bbc2 at midnight

Conmaicne Mara · 22-12-2012 09:50PM

TeddyTedson wrote: »

It's one of my favourites, but for me it's this,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcbQyFtCqg

Yep, easily my favourite Christmas song, I never get tired of hearing it.

rtron · 06-12-2020 08:57PM

Guys guys, they just censored the word on 2FM...

AutoTuning · 06-12-2020 09:00PM

The last post on this thread was 8 years ago and the song is now 33 years old (released in 1987)

corner of hells · 06-12-2020 09:06PM

AutoTuning wrote: »

The last post on this thread was 8 years ago and the song is now 33 years old (released in 1987)

Sure , Silent Night must be 2000 years old.

Hangdogroad · 06-12-2020 11:38PM

rtron wrote: »

Guys guys, they just censored the word on 2FM...

Louise O Neill must be happy.

.anon. · 07-12-2020 07:21AM

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Louise O Neill must be happy.

Now there's a name I haven't heard on here (or anywhere else, for that matter) in a while. Remember when some posters on here had a weird obsession with her? I think the same posters all moved on to being obsessed with the word 'woke'.

Hamsterchops · 07-12-2020 08:08AM

On reflection, some of the lyrics were way over the top, even then.

"You're an old slut on junk"
"Ya cheap lousy ******"
"Happy Christmas your arse, I pray it's your last".

Songwriter: Jem Finer / Shane Patrick Lysaght Macgowan.

Who's Jem Finer?

screamer · 07-12-2020 08:28AM

Hamsterchops wrote: »

On reflection, some of the lyrics were way over the top, even then.

"You're an old slut on junk"
"Ya cheap lousy ******"
"Happy Christmas your arse, I pray it's your last".

Songwriter: Jem Finer / Shane Patrick Lysaght Macgowan.

Who's Jem Finer?

depends on where you define the top. its just a song and any christmas parties ive been to, people seem to sing along to it, enjoying the over the top words with relish. I think sensoring it is over the top, it's not as if the words are being used towards someone, it is what it is. Anyways.

vicwatson · 07-12-2020 08:44AM

Hamsterchops wrote: »

On reflection, some of the lyrics were way over the top, even then.

"You're an old slut on junk"
"Ya cheap lousy ******"
"Happy Christmas your arse, I pray it's your last".

Songwriter: Jem Finer / Shane Patrick Lysaght Macgowan.

Who's Jem Finer?

A founding member of the pogues

Oh and it’s “I pray god it’s our last”

whisky_galore · 07-12-2020 10:22AM

rtron wrote: »

Guys guys, they just censored the word on 2FM...

Never listen to 2fm, so, meh.

whisky_galore · 07-12-2020 10:28AM

.anon. wrote: »

Now there's a name I haven't heard on here (or anywhere else, for that matter) in a while. Remember when some posters on here had a weird obsession with her? I think the same posters all moved on to being obsessed with the word 'woke'.

She had a whinge about FONY on 'de paper' lately. You can look for it yourself, the world is filled with enough miserable shíte as it is.

MrStuffins · 07-12-2020 10:55AM

The kind of person who has a problem with the song being edited on the radio is the same person who says "All Lives Matter" and comments "They should just stick to football" when the Premier League does Rainbow Laces week.

Songs have had "Radio Edits" to remove offensive and sensitive language since before anyone commenting was born. It's not a new thing!

Fairtytale of New York.............. what a tune!

weldoninhio · 07-12-2020 11:01AM

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

The New York PD does not have a choir!

The NYPD choir was a nickname given to the drunks singing in the "drunk tank" in precints back in the 80s. So he's in the drunk tank, listening to other drunks singing Galway Bay.

weldoninhio · 07-12-2020 11:05AM

up for anything wrote: »

I hate and detest this song.

The story in the song reminds me of the miserableness of life for some of the older Irish men I met when I first went to London in the mid 80s. Married men in their 50s and 60s working like dogs all week on building sites, living in disgusting shared houses with young lads (who still had the advantage of hope and the optimism of youth) in order to save money, and sending their wages home every week to their struggling families back in Ireland, keeping only a few pounds back so they could sit over a few pints in dingy pubs like The George in Southall on a Friday and Saturday night wishing they were back home in their own houses with their wives and children and not knowing when they'd be able to return home for good to their real lives. I think people have forgotten that it wasn't only the young and single that left Ireland back in those days in order to earn some money.

That song, for me, embodies all the hopelessness, anguish and dead ends that some of the Irish have suffered through having to leave their country to seek employment abroad. I can't bear to listen to it.

Jaysus, don't ever listen to the Old Main Drag.

sligojoek · 07-12-2020 11:17AM

Hamsterchops wrote: »

On reflection, some of the lyrics were way over the top, even then.

"You're an old slut on junk"
"Ya cheap lousy ******"
"Happy Christmas your arse, I pray it's your last".

Songwriter: Jem Finer / Shane Patrick Lysaght Macgowan.

Who's Jem Finer?

Pogues banjo player.

Hangdogroad · 07-12-2020 11:21AM

.anon. wrote: »

Now there's a name I haven't heard on here (or anywhere else, for that matter) in a while. Remember when some posters on here had a weird obsession with her? I think the same posters all moved on to being obsessed with the word 'woke'.

Shes done two articles on it in as many weeks saying "it makes her teeth grind". One in the Examiner and the other in the Irish Times And no I didn't go seeking her stuff out. They showed up on my FB feed.

07-12-2020 11:22AM

Song was played on iRadio this morning about 8:30. It was their first Christmas song of the season.

They DID NOT leave out any words!

ShatterAlan · 07-12-2020 01:56PM

MrStuffins wrote: »

The kind of person who has a problem with the song being edited on the radio is the same person who says "All Lives Matter" and comments "They should just stick to football" when the Premier League does Rainbow Laces week.

Songs have had "Radio Edits" to remove offensive and sensitive language since before anyone commenting was born. It's not a new thing!

Fairtytale of New York.............. what a tune!

It's a funny one alright. There are so many songs out there that have "offensive" epithets. Some are censored others are not. One I found odd was Lily Allen's "It's not fair"

"I'm feeling pretty hard-done by
I spent ages giving BLEEP (head)"

Then you have Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army"

Never once have I heard the N word blocked out of this song and I'm guessing because whoever suggests the blocking would have completely missed the context and come off looking like a moron

"All it takes, one inch of trigger
One more widow, once less white nigger"

"faggot" is a terrible slur, as far as I'm concerned, but only when directed at homosexuals to deliberately cause offence or to refer to gays in general. My American ex often called me "faggy" if I did something that might possibly have been construed as genteel or sensitive like cranking up the radio when Abba came on or if I expressed admiration for something "girly" like flowers.....but she was just being playful.

My Punjabi ex always affectionately referred to me as her "Paddy" and I always called her by little onion bhaji. You CAN use terms that some would find derogatory but the balance is delicate and very subtle. I've heard people refer to blacks as niggers and when I've expressed distaste at their choice of word they say "Dude, I'm not racist. They call each other nigga all the time". Nah...that doesn't cut it.

So I suppose to get back to the Fairytale of New York....I don't know how I feel about "faggot". He's obviously straight so she's not abusing him by slurring homosexuality.

Guns N Roses' "One In A Million" deliberately did such a thing and while I like the song, it is an anthem for racists and homophobes who get a cheap snigger from the slurs used.

Anyway, should the word "faggot" be bleeped out of FONY? In my opinion, no, purely because by doing so you draw attention to it. Let it pass and most people will probably not notice.

KaneToad · 07-12-2020 01:59PM

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

They have a pipe band, which couldn't sing or play Galway Bay!

They famously sang The Mickey Mouse Club theme for the filming of the video...

seamus · 07-12-2020 02:01PM

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Who's Jem Finer?

Himself and McGowan wrote most of the Pogues' stuff until the band's first break-up.

Fairytale of New York is 25

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