For the seventh of our twelve days of classic Christmas songs we have the favorite Christmas tune of a generation or two of Brits, “Fairytale of New York.” Many of us here in the States might not know it, and it’s quite a different take on the holiday, but the song is a stunner.
“Fairytale of New York” was written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowen of the Pogues and performed by the Pogues (MacGowen singing lead) accompanied by Kirsty MacColl, who is someone else us ignorant Yanks have never heard of but need to. The track was released in 1987 and became the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century in the UK, selling more than 2.4 million copies.
The song tells a sad, depressing, and ultimately sort of uplifting tale of a couple falling on hard times yet eventually coming to some small bit of redemption. It’s been described as “a drunken hymn for people with broken dreams and abandoned hopes,” which puts it in sharp contrast with the perkier, more uplifting Christmas tunes we’re used to.
The song starts on Christmas Eve with the male narrator thrown into a New York City drunk tank. While there he dreams of his life with his lover and how it all fell apart, of times past when “The boys of the NYPD choir were singing ‘Galway Bay,’ and the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day.” It ends with the couple arguing, calling each other names, and the woman saying “You took my dreams from me.” The male narrator replies, sadly, “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.” And the song ends with the boys of the NYPD choir singing “Galway Bay” once again.
Yeah, this is not a feel good Christmas song. But it is one that reaches deep inside your chest and pulls out your heart. Maybe it’s not the kind of thing we Americans are used to, but it obviously touched a lot of folks across the pond. It needs to be on our lists, too.
