ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Shane MacGowan responded to backlash over homophobic slur in Fairytale of New York

Home> Entertainment> Music

Published 12:44 30 Nov 2023 GMT

Shane MacGowan responded to backlash over homophobic slur in Fairytale of New York

It's one of the most popular Christmas songs ever but also the most controversial

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

'Fairytale of New York' is one of the most iconic Christmas songs ever written; it's played out loud as people celebrate the festive period and the end of another year.

But despite its popularity, it's also become one of the most controversial tunes too.

For those of you who aren't that familiar with the hit, it centres around a couple who've fallen out of love and use the song to vent at one another.

Advert

And in one of the lines, Kirsty MacColl lets rip at Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, saying: "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy f****t."

Understandably, the homophobic slur is massively offensive and the song has been censored or the lyrics changed whenever played in recent years.

Shane MacGowan previously spoke out about the song's lyrics.
Pogue Mahone Records

A few years back, one DJ asked people to stop listening to it, while BBC 2 announced that it would be playing the censored version during the Christmas period.

Speaking previously on the subject, McGowan explained that he was not trying to be homophobic, instead it was simply meant to show what kind of character the woman saying it was.

"I've been told it's insulting to gays; I don't understand how that works," he said.

"Nobody in the band thinks that's worth a second's thought.

"The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character.

"She is not supposed to be a nice person or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate.

"Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend.

"She is just supposed to be an authentic character.

"Not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable, sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively."

It was announced earlier today that MacGowan had sadly died at the age of 65.

The songwriter's health problems have been well documented over recent years, with him recently coming out of hospital.

Taking to Instagram, MacGowan's wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, said she was heartbroken.

"I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it," she wrote.

"Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.

"I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.

"There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world."

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ThePoguesOfficial/Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images

Topics: UK News, Music

Dominic Smithers
Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is LADbible's Editorial Lead. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

X

@SmithersDom

Recommended reads

750,000 people are owed around £2,200 from HMRCGetty stockDavid Haye wants ‘way more than £10 million' as he breaks silence on I’m A Celeb legal battle(Instagram)Experts explain heartbreaking reality after trapped whale finally released in £1.3 million rescue missionEPAUK Government issues chikungunya virus warning to holidaymakers with three high risk groups named(Getty Stock Images)

Advert

Choose your content:

4 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • (Instagram)
    4 hours ago

    David Haye wants ‘way more than £10 million' as he breaks silence on I’m A Celeb legal battle

    David Haye confirmed that he is pursuing legal action against ITV over his portrayal on I'm A Celeb

    Entertainment
  • (ITV)
    6 hours ago

    Father speaks out after daughter faced one of the worst Who Wants to be a Millionaire losses in show's history

    Contestant Jen Essery Lillikakis missed out on £186,000 after a gamble backfired

    Entertainment
  • YouTube/Eva zu Beck
    6 hours ago

    Woman who ended marriage and booked one way ticket to travel 60+ countries reveals unexpected best place she's visited

    She spoke on This Morning about why she gave up her 'perfect' life to go travelling across the world

    Entertainment
  • Cindy Ord/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
    7 hours ago

    X-rated meaning behind Kim Kardashian’s controversial Met Gala outfit explained

    Kim sought inspiration from a 1975 erotica for her 2026 Met Gala look

    Entertainment
  • The Pogues singer Shane MacGowan dies aged 65
  • Shane MacGowan's reported yearly earnings from Fairytale Of New York released 35 years ago
  • The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan confirms serious condition in New Years Eve video following hospitalisation