06/12/2020
Popular LGBTQ Newswire Pink News has published a detailed guide to the now regular whining from heterosexuals over the 1987 festive song by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, the “Fairy Tale of New York”. Although it was never a Christmas number one, being – ironically enough – kept from the number one slot by the gay fronted band Pet Shop Boys, the record is considered by musos and critics to be among the best Christmas tracks. The Pink News article examines how the line “You Cheap Lousy Faggot” is championed by straight supremacists who each year moan when radio stations delete the line, or when cover versions change it for something less offensive. At first, the Pogues themselves defended the lyric as being spoken by a character of low repute, and not someone whose example should be followed. To this extent it followed Mark Knopfler's lyric “that little faggot he a millionaire” from the 1985 Dire Straits Classic single “Money For Nothing” - a line spoken by an unpleasant character. However, even by the end of the eighties, gay newspapers and magazines were reporting how the “faggot” line from the Pogues track was being used by straight people as an excuse to yell abuse at gay people. This seems to have influenced Ms MacColl's decision in 1992 to change the lyric when she performed on a BBC Pop Music compilation show. Yes – the woman who sang the original line, endorsed an alternative. Now, after the regular complaints from heterosexuals, it seems that The Pogues themselves understand why the song needs reforming. They told right wing journalist Laurence Fox “Eff off you little herrenvolk” and retweeted this statement from a gay activist: “the word itself being in Fairytale Of New York doesn’t bother or offend me, but straight people being so angry & outraged at its removal and literally fighting and arguing for the right to sing it bothers me deeply”. Well said that person. And thanks to Pink News for their excellent exploration of this troubling issue.
