Further problems almost stopped the song being made.MacGowan wrote a slow, piano-based introduction to the song, influenced by Ennio Morricone's score for Once Upon a Time in America. The opening date was in New York City, a place which MacGowan had long been fascinated with, and helped inspire him to write new lyrics for the song.Īmong the members of the city's Irish-American community who saw the show were film-maker Peter Dougherty and actor Matt Dillon (see above!) - both of whom would later become friends with The Pogues and play roles in the video. In March 1986, The Pogues toured the US for the first time. Matt Dillon in the Fairytale of New York video. It needed to have a full-on, confident performance from the band, which it lacked.'

Guitarist Phillip Chevron said: 'It was not quite there. The producer of the final version, Steve Lillywhite, described the version with O'Riordan's vocals as not 'fully realised'. The band didn't like the suggestion, with MacGowan pointing out to Costello that the song was unlikely to be favourably received.ĭespite several attempts at recording it, the group were unhappy with the results, and the song was temporarily put aside. In January 1986, the group recorded the song during sessions with Costello that would produce the 'Poguetry in Motion' EP, with bass player Cait O'Riordan singing the female part.Ĭostello suggested naming the song 'Christmas Eve in the Drunk Tank', after the song's opening lines. The rest of the song (which has been interpreted as an internal monologue by some) becomes a call and response between the couple, about how their youthful hopes were crushed by alcohol and drug addiction, as they reminisce and bicker on Christmas Eve.įiner later said: 'I had written two songs complete with tunes, one had a good tune and crap lyrics, the other had the idea for 'Fairytale' but the tune was poxy, I gave them both to Shane and he gave it a Broadway melody, and there it was.' When an inebriated old man also in the cell sings a passage from the Irish ballad 'The Rare Old Mountain Dew', the narrator begins to dream about the song's female character. The song follows an Irish immigrant's Christmas Eve nostalgic stories about holidays past while sleeping off a drinking binge in a New York City 'drunk tank'.

MacGowan decided to name the song after JP Donleavy's 1973 novel A Fairy Tale of New York, which Finer was reading at the time and had left lying around the recording studio.

Fairytale of New York meaning: What is the song about?īanjo player Jem Finer came up with the melody and the original concept for the song, which involved a sailor looking out over the ocean.įiner's wife Marcia did not like the original story, and suggested new lyrics, regarding a conversation between a couple at Christmas.

However, manager Frank Murray has said that it was originally his idea that the band should try and write a Christmas song, as he thought it would be 'interesting'. Frontman Shane MacGowan insisted that it arose as a result of a wager made by their producer at the time, Elvis Costello, that the band would not be able to write a Christmas hit single. It's become the subject of controversy from some listeners in recent years due to its lyrical nature, but what is it about? What inspired the song? Who originally sang Kirsty's lines? Find out all you need to know below.įirst written in 1985, the origins of the song are disputed.

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