There are very few artists that have the gift of writing great songs and reinterpreting the songs of others in such a way that they make the song their own.
Shane MacGowan was one of those artists. When I first heard the Pogues in the late 1980's, I knew that "Dirty Old Town" was a Ewan MacColl song and "Waltzing Matilda" was an Australian bush ballad. It didn't matter because his interpretations stamped those songs with his personality. And it's hard to believe that "Fairytale of New York" was written on a bet. It's a song that has so much life and spirit; I could listen to it hundreds of times and never get tired of it.
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There are very few artists that have the gift of writing great songs and reinterpreting the songs of others in such a way that they make the song their own.
Shane MacGowan was one of those artists. When I first heard the Pogues in the late 1980's, I knew that "Dirty Old Town" was a Ewan MacColl song and "Waltzing Matilda" was an Australian bush ballad. It didn't matter because his interpretations stamped those songs with his personality. And it's hard to believe that "Fairytale of New York" was written on a bet. It's a song that has so much life and spirit; I could listen to it hundreds of times and never get tired of it.