Beloved even by Scrooges, The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s festive classic Fairytale Of New York is a common sound ringing out on Christmas Day.
Since the death of the band’s frontman Shane MacGowan last month, the song has taken on added poignancy and could be set to finally reach Christmas No.1 in the UK for the first time.
Released in 1987, the song was held off the No.1 spot at the time by the Pet Shop Boys and their cover of Always On My Mind. It currently sits at No.5 in the UK charts.
As The Pogues' (@poguesofficial) and Kirsty MacColl's #FairytaleOfNewYork joins the #XmasNo1 race, the late Shane MacGowan's widow endorses fans' campaigning 🖤#ChristmasNumber1 #ChristmasNumberOnehttps://t.co/rsnofINXCv
— Official Charts (@officialcharts) December 19, 2023
Considered by MacGowan as the most complicated song he ever wrote or performed, it is regarded as a masterpiece of storytelling, with two strong characters, often-debated lyrics and an open ending.
“The lyrics and particularly MacGowan’s delivery are verging on the scabrous, but it’s the contrast with MacColl’s lighter, more conventional vocals that gives it a poignancy that many relate to,” says Nick Prior, Professor of Cultural Sociology at Edinburgh University.
“There’s a story there – about hope amidst despair – but it’s how it’s told that compels, littered with vernacular sleights that descend into an argument.
“A bit like The Beatles’ dialogue between Paul McCartney and John Lennon on tracks like Getting Better (Paul: “I’ve to admit it’s getting better, a little better all the time”, John: “It can’t get much worse,”) it’s the tension in the dialogue that keeps us listening. How is this going to turn out?”
The history of Fairytale of New York
The female part was originally meant to be performed by the band’s Caitlín O’Riordan but she left before it was released and English singer Kirsty MacColl, who died in 2000, took on the vocals.
The song’s initial origins are disputed, but MacGowan had previously told how it was the result of a bet with the band’s then producer, Elvis Costello, who challenged them to make a Christmas song.
Banjo player Jem Finer wrote a song about a reminiscing sailor but his wife didn’t like the story, and suggested a conversation between a couple instead.
“The form of the duet is key to the song because it sets up a tension in style, tone and delivery,” Prior added. “The song paints in contrasts of black and white, with MacGowan’s lugubrious and intoxicated vocals that charmingly drift off key poised against MacColl’s more strait-laced delivery.
“When they sing together (“the boys of the NYPD choir”) the unison effect is truly moving, because it hints at a reconciliation but it’s one that never really comes because the damage has been done (“you took my dreams from me”).
“In many ways, it’s an anti-Christmas song that has ended up being one of our most-loved Christmas songs.”
Mourners at MacGowan’s funeral in Nenagh, County Tipperary, last week danced in the aisles of the church to an emotional version of the song.
It was first performed live at The Barrowland in Glasgow a month following its release when The Pogues persuaded MacColl to end her hiatus from performing on stage.
Since 2005 it has been among the Christmas classics that, thanks to downloads and streaming, have returned to the top-20 each December ahead of newer releases.
Christmas nostalgia
The power of nostalgic Christmas hits is evident from the charts on Friday last week, where Wham’s Last Christmas sat at No.1 and Brenda Lee, Mariah Carey and Shakin’ Stevens all featured in the top-20, while songs recorded in recent years, from the likes of Sam Ryder and Ariana Grande make use of sounds and festive tropes from their predecessors.
“Christmas No.1 is a peculiarly British phenomenon, a much bigger deal here than elsewhere,” explains Dr Adam Behr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary and Popular Music at Newcastle University.
One of my favourite performances yet of You’re Christmas To Me!!🎅🏼🎁🤘 Thank you @BBCTheOneShow ❄️🎄 pic.twitter.com/KJbvwoEaY1
— Sam Ryder (@SamRyderMusic) December 16, 2023
“A lot of Christmas is about nostalgia and there’s something about the typical Christmas song, even if it’s a new one, that still plays to that.
“Unless someone’s trying to take an innovative or challenging approach, you expect bells and tinsel. There are still boxes that one might think to tick.
“But now you’re not just in competition with other new songs, you’re effectively in competition with the entire history of recorded music and people will lean back into what they’re familiar with. Songs can become classics over time, though.
“Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You is a comparatively recent addition. When released in 1994, there were Now That’s What I Call Music Christmas albums and a sort of canonical set of Christmas songs established, but it has got into that.”
There’s a good chance of The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl finally grabbing that festive top spot this Friday.
Behr added: “The clever thing about it is that you can focus on the lyrics, the story, the grittiness, even thinking of Shane MacGowan’s life, and you can still dance and celebrate to it.”
Christmas chart toppers
The UK charts began in the NME magazine in November 1952 and the first chart-topper, Al Martino’s Here In My Heart, was also the first ever Christmas No.1.
Fifty years ago saw the first serious battle for the top spot when Slade and Wizzard both decided to record and release Christmas songs.
Noddy Holder and Co got a head start, releasing Merry Xmas Everybody two weeks before their glam rock counterparts’ I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.
Merry Xmas Everybody was crowned 1973’s No.1 and has regularly returned to the chart each December, clocking up 114 weeks overall.
Last year, during the festive period, it received 3,376,507 seconds, or 5.5 continuous weeks, of UK radio airtime.
Big-name acts to have Christmas No.1s to their name include The Beatles, Elvis, Tom Jones, Queen, Cliff Richard, Whitney Houston and, of course, Mr Blobby…
Christmas No.1 was dominated by reality TV talent shows from 2002 to 2014, with winners almost a shoo-in every year.
A social media-based protest campaign saw Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name beat the sixth X Factor winner, Joe McElderry, to the top in 2009.
The last five years have seen YouTuber LadBaby scoop the accolade with various sausage roll-themed tunes for food-bank charities, giving them the record for most ever Christmas No.1s.
This year’s Christmas No.1 will be announced on the Official Chart Show with Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1 from 4pm on Friday.
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