Tag Archives: Kirsty MacColl

The Return of Autumn Leaves

It’s that time of year again when the leaves start falling from the trees and turn from green to brown on the ground. The temperature and the amount of daily sunshine also drop, which means it’s not much of a change from the previous season here in Ireland. I’m sure most people count summer or even spring as their favourite time of year, but I’ve always preferred these three months just before December. In particular, I’m quite fond of those days when the sky is blue, the sun is shining and the air is crisp and fresh. I also like traipsing through the leaf-strewn streets and strolling around Limerick’s People’s Park. Here are a few autumnal tunes I’ll be listening to as I wander around the city over the coming months

Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover) – Nils Lofgren

An Earlier Autumn – The Field Mice

Autumn Air – The Very Most

Fallen Leaves – Teenage Fanclub

Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground (White Stripes cover) – Cat Power

Autumngirlsoup – Kirsty MacColl

Autumn Rendez-vous – Françoise Hardy

Autumn Leaves – Vashti Bunyan

Autumn Almanac – The Kinks

My Autumn’s Done Come – Lee Hazlewood

Fairytale of New York

Shane MacGowan celebrated his 53rd birthday yesterday and I’m sure that the celebrations are still in full swing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sang a song or two and perhaps even my favourite Christmas song got an airing. My sister and I have been fans of MacGowan and The Pogues for over twenty years and I still remember the first time we heard Fairytale of New York. It was late November in 1987 and we had both been surprised to hear that the lead single from their third album would be a Christmas song. We thought that only acts like Wham! and Shakin’ Stevens released Christmas songs and couldn’t imagine The Pogues doing one. Nevertheless, Irish DJ Dave Fanning had announced that he would be giving the song its first spin on his radio show and we tuned in to listen to it. The song began with just a piano and MacGowan’s distinctive voice. The use of the piano wasn’t all that unusual as that instrument had been to the fore a year earlier on Rainy Night in Soho. As we listened, the words sounded like some of MacGowan’s best material and were as far from traditional Christmas fare as you could imagine. After a couple of verses, the rest of the group came in, the tempo increased and the familiar vocals of Kirsty MacColl proved a perfect counterpoint to Shane’s growl. The song turned into a symphony and it even sounded like there were strings on it! By the time the song reached the chorus, it was apparent that this had the makings of a fine song. Then the tone of the song completely changed and Shane and Kirsty started a slagging match as they traded insults with each other. The rather mild uses of “bum”, “punk” and “old slut on junk” gave way to a sentiment that I hadn’t heard in a Christmas song up to that point. Kirsty sings:

You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last

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