I can say with absolute certainty that at least 50% of the Teenage Kicks staff is 100% positive that The Pogues "Fairytale of New York" is better than 99.9 % of all other Christmas songs, and 78% sure that it's almost impossible to ruin. It blends the sweet and sadness of Christmas, gives equal import to both the hope and desperation prevalent during the holidays. It also lends credence to the notion of Shane MacGowan as one of rock's greatest songwriters, as only he could conjure up this mixture of blood, beer, sweat and junk commingling with simple dreams of domestic bliss.
Pogues (with Kirsty MacCool) - Fairytale of New York
Florence And The Machine (with Billy Bragg) - Fairytale of New York
Stars - Fairytale of New York
Jesse Malin (with Bree Sharp) - Fairytale of New York
In-Flight-Safety (with Jenn Grant) - Fairytale of New York
KT Tunstall (with Ed Harcourt) - Fairytale of New York
Cold Blow These Winter Winds - Fairytale of New York
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - Fairytale of New York
Yoni Gordon & The Goods - Fairytale of New York
Matthew And The Atlas - Fairytale of New York
Pilate - Fairytale of New York
Merry Christmas!
5 comments:
thanks for the memories
You are 83% correct, but I found out on Ho-Ho day that not everyone in the family is such a McGowan fan. I finally had someone beg me for my personal Christmas closet-skeleton, "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses.
Dislike the Billy Bragg/Florence version (kinda flat) and hey, you're missing Marah's cover.
Got to see Marah and Jesse Malin do it just before xmas at the Stone Pony. Not just the best xmas song, but the best xmas cover as well. Not everybody got it right away - "You 'cheap lousy' what...? What did she just sing?"
What a beautiful song. I'm Irish too!
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