Wordsmith is correct and a man with abundant talent. There's a great fairly recent documentary about his rocky life called Crock of Gold.

Regarding his aptitude for song writing there's a interview with Nick Cave where he covers a Pogues song... Cave describes spending time with Shane McGowan and him having a pile of songs in a mound on the floor. Picking them up he sees there are beautiful songs just lying there most destined for oblivion. A prolific song writer to say the least. You'd wonder how many gems were lost to his irreverent nature.