Shane was a unique talent and one of our own.
Raw and rasping, the music of the Pogues was simultaneously an angry snarl at their racist detractors and a mournful reflection of a being born into exile.
In the ersatz world of the music industry, they were disconcertingly authentic, and McGowan was their beating heart.
He was the balladeer of the diaspora.
I remember where I was when I first heard this.
It still gets me.
Shane MacGowan and the Pogues were just being themselves, and that gave the Brit establishment a real problem.
The reaction to their song in 1988 about the Birmingham Six is classic.
They were merely using the medium of music to point out the ancient British legal convention of innocent until proven Irish.
Shane was very well aware of the situation in his homeland and didn’t rely on the establishment media.
Of course, none of us gets to decide how we are remembered after we’re gone, but this from the Guardian was awful.
Derek Schofield?
Nah, me neither.
No idea.
I was heartened to see the band weigh in on it.
Then this called to me like listening again to Thousands Are Sailing.
For the uninitiated, Cécile Chemin does fantastic work at our military archives, and she has been of great help to your humble correspondent on several occasions.
History remembered is a weapon.
She’s definitely one of our Gallant Allies!
I was moved to reply about her “London Irish” observation on Twitter/X.
I recall some adverse reactions to how I so described myself when my stage play “Rebellion” was first performed in the city of my birth.
This lovely flier was made into a canvass for me by the wonderfully talented fella behind Celtic Canvass Art.
It now adorns the wall of my study here in Dún na nGall.
I looked up at it this morning as I was putting the finishing touches to a package that, hopefully, DHL will get to Baby Doctor Down Under before the big day.
It is a poor substitute for seeing her open her pressies on Christmas morning, ach sin mar atá.
Because of our predatory neighbour on the adjoining island, we were destined to be a diaspora nation.
That didn’t stop us from being ourselves wherever we landed.
Often, the ballads were the connecting tissue, telling our stories was a reaffirmation in an often hostile cultural environment.
In the age before Spotify, we sought out the pub where the craic was on tap.
I had cause to consider these issues recently when I was interviewed by the Irish Voice for their October edition.
If I don’t awake to another morning ‘neath this Irish sky, then I know my two novels are waiting to tell the world about the Glasgow Irish after I’m gone.
Moreover, there’s no Section 31 that can prevent that.
We define who we are, in part, by the memories we pass on in song and story.
On stage and in full flow, Shane and the Pogues told the world about the “London Irish” just by being themselves.
Shane MacGowan, you’re immortal.
Míle buíochas.
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Loved Shane, love The Pogues music. Certainly stirred and soothed the rebel in me.
To me, he stood up and shouted about it. Never afraid. Bigger man than me.
God rest Shane.
Thanks Phil, good article about a fearless performer.
That Guardian obituary is unworthy of its subject or its once-proud title. Reads like it was cut ‘n’ pasted from Wikipedia by a sixth form student and not proof-read either. Shambles.
Absolutely. I think the Observer one was somewhat better but nevertheless. The one linked to here does indeed read like it’s been written by someone who knows and cares little about the subject. Even down to the point of linking ‘The Auld Triangle’ to the Dubliners’ influence then referencing the Behan influence a paragraph or so later, without spotting the triangular link (if you will) between the three.
The Pogues’ rendition of that song is undoubtedly the greatest. Just perfect.
It’s worth pointing out that Thousands are Sailing was written by Philip Chevron and not Shane McGowan.
He wrote plenty of wonderful songs but that wasn’t one of his, although his performance of it was as top notch as on his own compositions.
Personally, I’ve always preferred A Christmas Lullaby rather than Fairytale with the 3rd verse being as topical and heartbreaking as it was when it was first written.
Hence my use of the term “balladeer” which means mean singer and not song writer.
The Pogues played the Barras the day after we played the original Rangers’ 4-4 with the wonderful Tommy Burn’s scoring our third☘️ that’s a fitting eulogy to a fine musician Phil who understood what it meant to be a stranger in his own land. The Guardian version could easily been penned by The Scum. HH
That Guardian obituary is terrible. They really need to get their facts right as a basic start.
Shane was a legend