Fairytale of New York should be banned from radio

[Alrighteo]

This is from one of the UK tabolids

Oh and i love this song,and i'm in my 70s and i'm not offended by it

@LampLighterInn exactly!

As has been said on another thread “tonight thank god it’s them instead of you!” Is much worse!

It's raw. It's beautiful. It's exquisite. It's ….. oh, I could go on for ever.

I play it all year round but more so at this time of year. I absolutely will not be blanking out any words; is nothing sacred?

And, in a tribute to the late, and very great, Kirsty McColl my user name on my online dating site is OldSlutOnJunk.

Merry Christmas, one and all

I have no feelings on this either way. I guess some people find it offensive. Faggots are things we eat where I live and I’ve never heard it used in any other context other than on American tv.

To the poster who referred to “our lovely Shane”, I met him a few years back and didn’t find him lovely at all. It was at a gig by a mutual friend of ours. He had a drinking problem and was ok at the start of the night but bloody horrible as the night wore on. He started almost heckling? And then collared me in the corridor to incoherently rip them to pieces, forgetting that I was also there with the bloke who had introduced us, leaning all over me, spitting on me as he talked etc... funnily enough I was the only young woman in the place and the only person he decided to latch onto. Somebody apologised for him and came and took him away eventually. He made my skin crawl. It did ruin his music for me a bit because he behaved like such a nasty arsehole.

As has been said on another thread “tonight thank god it’s them instead of you!” Is much worse!

That was sung by bono and I think was ad libbed . I guess to be shocking and draw people's attention to their own fortunate circumstances to make people feel guilty and donate more money. Again contrasting happy Christmas cheer with suffering to create poignancy. No coincidence they're both popular Christmas songs, nostalgia, melancholy, regret - all heightened at Christmas. Also I wonder if the fact that Bono is Irish too reflects a bit of the National character. Immigration, famine, colonialism.

I don't think it should be banned but if I never heard it again I would be very happy, I absolutely detest it.

@kenandbarbie it wasn’t ad libbed. Bono really didn’t want to sing that line, Bob Geldof persuaded him.

My mother and grandmother used to make homemade faggots. We were a Midlands family. Faggots were food for us.

It's poignant, bitter, romantic and nostalgic all in one.

Exactly.

The two of them are the least likely romantic characters, yet there's true hope and romance at the start of their story. And even though they're now both dysfunctional and mutually embittered, they can still remember what their past love was like. One of my favorite songs of all time, and about the only Christmas song that gets played in our house.

Sorry, but I don’t think “you scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy fgot” is lyrical mastery, personally.

But Kirsty McColl delivers that line so beautifully!

I think it's a fantastic song.

The lyrics are not twee, or sweet, or lovely, or anything nice at all nice really, but the stiry and sentiment is fabulous. It does set the scene straight away - Christmas Eve i. The drunk tank is never going to bf the prettiest of pictures.

Maybe people can relate to being down on your luck but stIll having love and dreams, more that a more traditional Christmas song?

I just wanted to add that I'm a New Yorker and have never heard this song broadcast here.

Well, the lyrics work extremely well with the rhythm of the music, so I'd argue that they are lyrical.

Also - there are moments of hope when the song sounds like a traditional Christmas song "The boys of the NYPD choir"... then it descends back into the bitter reality of how their lives have unfolded, and the music and lyrics reflect that.
It very cleverly flips back & forth between the shmaltzy Christmas optimism of Christmas Eve, and the lives that they've lived.

You get the impression that even though life is a bitter disappointment, they had that one perfect moment when they first met.

@ColaFreezePop yes there are far more dreary songs. Have you ever heard the Nat King Col one "Little Boy Who Santa Claus Forgot"? It's awful! It never even explains why he's forgotten, you expect some big reveal that it's to reach kids to behave as this one has been a right little shit so he deserves being forgot. But no.

And actually, Stay Another Day by East 17 is always seen as the height of pop smaltz at Christmas from the 90s. However, it was written by Tony Mortimer after his brother had died, so is actually completely different to the love song it was taken as back then.

It’s my favourite Christmas song. Fuck off with your censorship.

You love folk music but you think some folk songs should be banned @ScreamingValenta? Is that what you're saying? I'm not sure it's a genre that sits well with censorship. Love it or hate it but don't start telling other people what they can't listen to.

@RuffleCrow Did you actually bother to read any of my posts.

Obviously not, because my first post on the thread said:

I think it's awful, but I wouldn't advocate banning it. It paints a depressing picture of an abusive relationship, which isn't what I want to hear at Christmas. If it wasn't treated as a festive song, it wouldn't be so bad. However, if others like it, fair enough. The world would be boring if we all liked the same things."

I explicitly said exactly the opposite of what you have implied. Why not actually read people's posts before sneering at them? And why not broaden your mind and accept the fact that just because someone doesn't like your particular favourite folk song, it doesn't mean they don't enjoy others of the genre.

I love it. I love it for the tune, its grittiness and the different message. It’s a masterpiece!

As a kid who grew up hating xmas because my house was so dysfunctional, it’s a welcome escape from the Xmas cheer.

I’m so fed up of political correctness.

And for the record @RuffleCrow I think The English and folk music don't mix! is one of the most childish and ill-informed comments I have ever read on here.

You scumbag you todger you great big cocklodger
Merry Xmas your arse I pray God it's our last !

There, fixed it.

It's my second favourite Xmas song after Greg Lake.
The verse ''I could have been someone...'' always brings a lump to my throat and no, it should not be banned or even re-covered because no-one would or could sing like Kirsty. RIP

Very unreasonable to ban - my favourite Christmas song! And the lyrics are the best part.

Well it seems to be 75% who still like it.
The ones who dislike Shane's 'strained' voice? I think it's an Irish way of singing maybe.
As I've said faggot didn't mean what it does now, so it's not an LBGT slur .
I genuinely feel it's lyrically worth studying - if even for a modern piece and the use of language by a certain society. I think it's brilliant.
As for the melody, when the chorus comes on I'm on the floor lol.
But it had a beautiful melody.
Even a music teacher could accept that it has an evocative melody.
Worth mentioning too that he would he been working with the best musicians in Ireland at the time to produce to the song. And that would be musicians with serious graft and talent behind them.

Come on, it’s not intended as homophobic. At least one of the Pogues was gay. The Pogues did write loads of grim stuff about rent boys and the sleazy side of life, but not in a derogatory way, just beautifully worded social observation.

My understanding is that 50% of the profits for any use of this song go towards Kirsty's mum's legal battle to see the Mexican playboy who ran her over in shallow waters brought to justice. He paid £1450 to the family for virtually cutting her in half.