YMMV / The Pogues

• Common Knowledge: Everyone "knows" that "Fairytale of New York" is a cynical, bitter Anti-Christmas Song about two deeply troubled people whose relationship falls apart acrimoniously. Well, not exactly. Beneath all the fighting and misery, the two still love each other and hope for a better life together; the end of the song even implies that the couple reconciles. It's still not a happy Christmas song — but it's all the more sincere because of it.
• Covered Up:
  • "Dirty Old Town" was originally written Ewan MacColl about Salford. The Dubliners' 1964 version made it part of the Irish folk repertoire, but the Pogues' version cemented it as a Dublin anthem for all time. Salford City FC even play the Pogues' version rather than MacColl's.
  Cait O'Riordan: In all the thousand times I’ve heard people play this song since 1986 I’ve never heard anyone not play it in our arrangement.
  • "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is originally by Eric Bogle, but the Pogues' version is much better known north of the equator. (Bogle's version remains the iconic one in Australia, however.)
• Heartwarming Moments: Possible Tear Jerker, but this verse from Body Of An American.
  "This morning on the harbour, when I said goodbye to you
  I remember how I swore that I'd come back to you one day
  And as the sunset came to meet the evening on the hill
  I told you I'd always love you; I always did and I always will"
• Signature Song: "Fairytale of New York" - it's a beloved Christmas song in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and re-enters the charts annually.
• Tear Jerker: "Fairytale Of New York", "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", "The Old Main Drag", "Thousands Are Sailing", "A Pair Of Brown Eyes"... take your pick.
• Values Dissonance:
  • "The Old Main Drag" contains a transphobic slur, which would be unthinkable in The New '10s.
  • "Fairytale Of New York" has attracted a lot of criticism for the use of the word "faggot", to the point where some radio stations now edit that word out. Shane MacGowan defended it on the grounds that the song is sung from the view of a bigoted Lower-Class Lout who is supposed to come across as homophobic, similar to Mark Knopfler's justification for using the slur in Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing".

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