Fairytale of New York
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"Fairytale of New York" is a cover of the Christmas classic by The Pogues. Written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, the song follows an Irish immigrant's Christmas Eve reverie about holidays past while sleeping off a binge in a New York City drunk tank. When an inebriated old man also in the cell sings a passage from the Irish ballad "The Rare Old Mountain Dew", the narrator (MacGowan) begins to dream of a former lover. The remainder of the song (which may be an internal monologue) takes the form of a call and response between the couple, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, as they reminisce and bicker on Christmas Eve.[1]
The Longest Johns released their cover of the song in December 2019.
Factoids
As of 2011, "Fairytale of New York" was the UK's most-played Christmas song in the 21st century.[2]
Lyrics
It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
When 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 J.D.
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 blows 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
[CHORUS 1]
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 carrot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last
[CHORUS 2]
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
But 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
[CHORUS 2]
Recordings
Streaming/Purchase
YouTube Videos
Full Band Streams
- TLJ Christmas Party!! (18 Dec 2019)
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Streams-mas (16 Dec 2020)
- THE SING ALONG! JINGLE JAM 2021 - DAY 6! w/ The Longest Johns (9 Dec 2021)
- It's The Most Wonderful Stream of the Year (22 Dec 2021)
- Jingle Jam 2022 (10 Dec 2022)
- Hark the Herald Angels Stream (21 Dec 2022)
- Jingle Jam 2023 | Day 4 (4 Dec 2023)
- It Was Christmas Stream Babe (20 Dec 2023)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Stream (18 Dec 2024)
- Stream Alone (17 Dec 2025)