“A Fairytale of New York”, The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl

This way: A Fairytale of New York

Would you like to hear one of the all time best Christmas songs I ask you? “Fairytale of New York” remains The Pogues’ best known and best-selling single. It was named after J.P. Donleavy's 1973 novel A Fairy Tale of New York which Finer had been reading in the studio when the song was first written. The song dated back to 1985 when Finer had written the original melody and lyrics, about a sailor looking out over the ocean, but he admitted that his lyrics had been terrible and MacGowan had come up with a better storyline of a couple arguing in New York City at Christmas time. MacGowan had always intended the song to be sung as a duet, originally with O’Riordan providing the female vocal part, but despite attempts to record “Fairytale of New York” in January 1986 during the sessions for Poguetry in Motion, the band were unhappy with the results and abandoned the song. During the sessions for the third album at RAK in May 1987, MacGowan recorded new guide vocals for the song but with O'Riordan's departure it now had no female vocalist. Lillywhite took the tapes home and recorded his singer-songwriter wife Kirsty MacColl singing the female lines: when he brought them back to the studio The Pogues were so impressed that the song was re-recorded with MacColl as the replacement singing partner for MacGowan. “Fairytale of New York” was released as the album's lead single in November 1987 in the run-up to Christmas and reached number one in Ireland and number two in the UK. Its enduring popularity has seen it re-enter the charts several times since 1987, eventually going on to sell over a million copies in the UK and being voted the most popular Christmas-themed song of all time.

[Spotify] A Fairytale of New York