Fairy Tale of New York - The Pogues, 1987

 
 

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This years for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
Its no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God its our last

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

 
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The Pogues are a primarily Irish Folk-Celtic-Punk band formed in 1982. They started out as Pogue Mahone - pogue mahone being the Anglicization of the Irish póg mo thóin, which apparently translates to "kiss my ass". Did I mention the Punk influence?

Fairy Tale of New York was an instant hit on the Irish and UK charts when it was released just before Christmas, 1987. It seems to be picking up speed, too; VH1 UK has voted it best Christmas song in 2004, 2005 and 2006. This is odd, because the lyrics are less than optimistic about this special day. Based on two Irish immigrants and their rocky romance in New York, it is a pretty dismal look at human nature.

Singer Kirsty MacColl was invited to do the female part, only because the band's original bassist, Cait O'Riordan, quit in 1986 before she got a chance to record the song. The video featured an actual New York Police Department band (okay - not a choir, and they didn't know Galway Bay - but they were NYPD) Matt Dillion is featured as the arresting officer, and he apparently helped control the situation when the band became too drunk on the set. Added realism, I guess.

Connections: featured singer Kirsty MacColl had another big hit as a solo artist.