Fairytale of New York – The Pogues
I posted this song last Christmas, too. I contemplated posting something different this time, but what would be the point of that? This one is definitive – not just the best song about Christmas ever, but one of the best songs ever, period.
There aren’t many songs that can still leave me totally defenseless, no matter how many times I hear them. This is one of the few.
From the opening piano notes and you hear Shane MacGowan sing as only he is capable of: with a tenderness only matched by its raggedness. And then, even though you’ve heard it so many times before, you’re still completely unprepared for the way Kirsty MacColl’s voice emerges, triumphant, joyful, alive beyond words. As the verse unfolds and their voices intertwine you can almost see them, dancing together under the falling snow. It’s all there: the joy, the pain, the anger, the lost dreams, the hope, and the love. And on the final verse, when he sings “can’t make it all alone, I’ve built my dreams around you” there’s nothing left to do except weep for the sheer beauty of it all. It’s all enough to shatter the composure of even the most stolid guy.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Update: head over to My Old Kentucky Blog for a shockingly good cover of the song by Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. This is one of those songs I always thought was impossible to cover, but they’ve done a mighty fine job. Still not as good as the original, of course, but they manage to give it just enough of their own flavor to make it unique and worthwhile.