Shane MacGowan has died
bbc.com
bbc.com
Terrible shame to see him gone.
Regarding his aptitude for song writing there's a interview with Nick Cave where he covers a Pogues song... Cave describes spending time with Shane McGowan and him having a pile of songs in a mound on the floor. Picking them up he sees there are beautiful songs just lying there most destined for oblivion. A prolific song writer to say the least. You'd wonder how many gems were lost to his irreverent nature.
(if they) ...stick (him) in a box ... and shove (him) in the ground ... (I'm sure he'll) stick (his) head back out and shout "we'll have another round"
Decades ago I was on a train in Ireland and he was sitting at the table opposite to him. Like most on the train carriage, I recognised him but left him alone. Eventually someone walking through the carriage saw him and approached to quickly express his admiration/gratitude for his music and asked if he minded that he had a question about the lyrics of one of his songs. He seemed genuinely happy to engage in a conversation.
I listened, of course, and for the next 30 minutes or so, was treated to a whirlwind but fascinating tour of his ideas covering politics, philosophy, history as well as literature. He was extremely well-read. I wish I could remember the details. Maybe this transcript - https://thequietus.com/articles/09277-mark-e-smith-nick-cave... - captures the tone of the conversation.
One summer evening drunk to hell
I stood there nearly lifeless
An old man in the corner sang
Where the water lilies grow
And on the jukebox johnny sang
About a thing called love
And its how are you kid and whats your name
And how would you bloody know?
In blood and death neath a screaming sky
I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men
Were scattered all around
Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed
Then prayed and bled some more
And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back, labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes
I looked at him he looked at me
All I could do was hate him
While Ray and Philomena sang
Of my elusive dream
I saw the streams, the rolling hills
Where his brown eyes were waiting
And I thought about a pair of brown eyes
That waited once for me
So drunk to hell I left the place
Sometimes crawling sometimes walking
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
A rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes
For a pair of brown eyes
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
And a rovin, a rovin, a rovin I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes
For a pair of brown eyes> I didn’t, of course, expect him to look like the gangly youth with the terrible teeth who looked as if he’d bleed adrenalin. I knew that the terrible teeth, or at least a lot of the terrible teeth, had gone. But I didn’t expect him to look like this. He has, it’s true, been ill. He has, apparently, had gastroenteritis. (The doctor said he could only eat clear liquids, which MacGowan, unfortunately, took to mean gin). But the man sitting opposite me, behind a table covered with packets of pills and cigarettes, reminds me both of a hobbit and a china doll. His hair is wild. His skin is pale. His lips cover gums where there should be teeth. But his eyes are clear, bright, piercing, beautiful blue.
and
> I’m not quite sure how to follow this, so I ask what ambitions he’s got left. This time there’s no pause. “To live as long as I possibly can, and to come to terms with dying before I do.”
> For a moment, we’re both quiet. For some people, this might seem like a small thing. But when you’ve drunk as much as Shane MacGowan (and not all that many people have drunk as much as Shane MacGowan) then staying alive isn’t a small thing at all.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/featu...
"It was not until he formed Pogue Mahone (a variant of Irish phrase póg mo thóin, which means "kiss my a*se"), that he was finally able to mix the rawness of punk with the Irish poetry and sentimentality of his lyrics, to huge critical and commercial acclaim."
Fairytale of New York on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8
Shane, Kirsty - RIP
In simpler times I'd live in the pub I think, I might be happier for it!
Or dead.
Farewell Shane.
My first concert was the Pogues in late 1986 or early 1987. "Boys from the county hell", "Dirty old town" and "Waltzing Matilda" (the last two, he didn't write, but made his) are some of my favorite songs ever.
One concert I recall Shane managed to sing only three or so songs. He fell backwards, and was eventually dragged off stage. The rest of the band carried on.
Another, Shane made it about half way, but noticeably inebriated, and then just disappeared. The rest of the band just carried on.
The concert with the Popes, Shane had to carry the show, so he made it all the way through a couple of hours.
RIP Shane.
Shane MacGowan was one of those artists. When I first heard the Pogues in the late 1980's, I knew that "Dirty Old Town" was a Ewan MacColl song and "Waltzing Matilda" was an Australian bush ballad. It didn't matter because his interpretations stamped those songs with his personality. And it's hard to believe that "Fairytale of New York" was written on a bet. It's a song that has so much life and spirit; I could listen to it hundreds of times and never get tired of it.
(I often find myself in this situation, to be honest...)
Shane MacGowan: Pogues singer dies aged 65
(I don't know why the submission title doesn't coincide with the page title though.)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvfcW8XVa2Kj802P4l302Yw
Shane was the lead singer for their heyday and was eventually kicked out of the band due to his drinking while touring. He went solo (pretty good) and the band tried to go on without him (so so). He was a famous wild man whose health has been in decline for many years. Many people were surprised he was still alive! RIP.
There's also a story up from shooting the video for Fairytale of New York:
But the early live stuff -- Found this version of Sally MacLennane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWSuwPzrog4
Or this one of Spider playing a drinks tray with his head:
Incredible and unique music that doesn't imitate or try to be anything other than what it is.
However, he did have an ... interesting ... life. I think his last few years were pretty terrible.
That's just too much irony.
Depressed and maybe borderline she was, but above all devastated by the preventible suicide of her son. (which is a huge story of Ireland's health service momumental fuckups on its own.)
Drugs just accelerate the melting mind process.
Dick van Dyke is still around at 97(!) in spite of many years of chain-smoking and alcoholism (he stopped drinking in his late 40s, and smoking in his 70s). Look, I like Dick van Dyke and I wish him many more years, but he ought to have died decades ago.
Biology is funny business.
In Shane's case, is it any wonder that a chronic and extreme drinking problem eventually kills you? His quality of life has been impacted for almost as long as Keith Richards has been off the needle.
As for ol' Dicky specifically, he seems to be doing pretty well for his age: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL3AijekRYw
Beats them being some total bores, with a sorted domestic life and bank account.
A piss artist isn't a drunk. They are somebody who elevates drinking to an art form.
There's nothing left to say
Fare the well, gone away, there's nothing left to say
With a slainte Joe and Erin go my love's in Amerikay
The calling of the rosary, Spanish wine from far awayI don't think this is in any rules I read, so probably faster to ask than deep dive through 15 years+ of history.
I'm sure there are plenty of HNers who don't instantly recognise the name who would be much better placed to decide whether the article interested then if the title was in its original form.