Nollaig Shona! ¡Felíz Navidad! con The Pogues y Fairytale of New York

Pogues' classic "The Fairytale of New York" might not have been so famous if they'd stuck to the plan and set it in County Clare! Quizá este clásico tema de The Pogues no hubiera sido tan famoso si se hubieran atenido al plan de centrarla en el Condado de Clare.




Ésta es la canción de Navidad que los Irlandeses aman cantar, y no sólo ellos, se ha hecho famosa y quizá se deba a que sus autores cambiaron la idea original de centrarla en County Clare por la cosmopolita Nueva York.
En 1987 el escritor y vocalista de The Pogues, Shane MacGowan contó en un especial de la BBC los orígenes de la canción, (ahora la canción de Navidad más popular en la radio), explicó que los primeros demos hablaban sobre un marino de West Claire que miraba hacia al Atlántico y soñaba con una vida en la Gran Manzana.
Jem Finer, músico de The Pogues, cuenta que les llevó dos años de mucho trabajo perfeccionar el sonido de la canción y también, que en ese lapso decidieron transferir la historia original a Nueva York.
Finer agregó que el productor Steve Lillywhite persuadió a su entonces esposa, la cantante Kirsty MacColl para que cantara junto a MacGowan y cuando la canción estuvo completa estaban felices porque sabían que había quedado como habían soñado.

Letra:

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas day

Songwriters: JEREMY FINER, SHANE MACGOWAN

Fuente: Irish Central

http://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/pogues-christmas-classic-was-almost-the-fairytale-of-co-clare-136181653-237425251.html