29 votes

Shane MacGowan obituary - lead singer and masterful songwriter for the Pogues who brought punk style and attitude to Irish folk music

Posted by boxer_dogs_dance
Tags: obituaries, musicians, shane macgowan, the pogues, ireland, author.derek schofield, source.the guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/30/shane-macgowan-obituary

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Title
Shane MacGowan obituary
Authors
Derek Schofield
Published
Nov 30 2023
Word count
2013 words

8 comments

  1. [3]
    simplify
    Link
    RIP Shane. He was a tortured genius. If you're unfamiliar with the Pogues, treat yourself and listen to Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. I'm sad I never got to see them live. In college, some friends of...

    RIP Shane. He was a tortured genius. If you're unfamiliar with the Pogues, treat yourself and listen to Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. I'm sad I never got to see them live. In college, some friends of mine went to see them and the show got cancelled before the Pogues came on because, well, Shane was being Shane, I guess. He was a madman and a poet.

    We walked him to the station in the rain
    We kissed him as we put him on the train
    And we sang him a song of times long gone
    Though we knew that we'd be seeing him again.

    8 votes
    1. [2]
      master_tonberry
      Link Parent
      One more here recommending Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. I’d also like to recommend Streets of Sorrow from the album If I Should Fall From Grace With God (and also the track If I Should Fall From Grace...

      One more here recommending Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. I’d also like to recommend Streets of Sorrow from the album If I Should Fall From Grace With God (and also the track If I Should Fall From Grace With God too). He was incredible, both as an artist and as someone willing to speak up for the downtrodden.

      3 votes
      1. simplify
        Link Parent
        The Broad Majestic Shannon is the one that always does it for me from If I Should Fall From Grace With God. Shane could make the saddest songs so upbeat.

        The Broad Majestic Shannon is the one that always does it for me from If I Should Fall From Grace With God. Shane could make the saddest songs so upbeat.

        3 votes
  2. [2]
    boxer_dogs_dance
    (edited )
    Link
    Fairy Tale of New York (slurs in the song) Dirty Old Town Haunted (with Sinead O'Connor) Thousands are Sailing Lorelei The Parting Glass

    Fairy Tale of New York (slurs in the song)

    Dirty Old Town

    Haunted (with Sinead O'Connor)

    Thousands are Sailing

    Lorelei

    The Parting Glass

    5 votes
  3. MeccAnon
    Link
    RIP. Extremely down-to-earth lad. My boss came across him and Mike Scott from Waterboys in a pub in Glasgow and they got him a pint and chatted away. They were drunk as skunks, mind you, but still...

    RIP. Extremely down-to-earth lad. My boss came across him and Mike Scott from Waterboys in a pub in Glasgow and they got him a pint and chatted away. They were drunk as skunks, mind you, but still very amiable.

    4 votes
  5. shu
    Link
    In case there are german and french speaking people here, there's a movie with and about Shane McGowan on ARTE called 'A Crock of Gold'. As far as I know it's only available there with german and...

    In case there are german and french speaking people here, there's a movie with and about Shane McGowan on ARTE called 'A Crock of Gold'. As far as I know it's only available there with german and french voiceover though. There's an english trailer on YT.

    It's a journey through his life, starting as an irish boy on a farm and a teen punk in London, his time with the Pogues, to just recent days (I think he was 61 when the movie was made). I liked it a lot.

    2 votes