It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
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 baby
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 goes 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
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 f****t
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last
I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
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
--The Pogues
(yes, I expurgated that one little word--but you know what it says)
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2 comments:
Must editorialize on my own blog. Alex, who is Roman Catholic and ADORES this song, still asked me why I posted it; it's kinda gloomy and pessimistic. Well, I'm kinda gloomy and pessimistic, in my own lighthearted way. But also, I don't agree with him. Here's why this song:
1. It's atmospheric: there's no such thing as the NYPD Choir. So maybe they're referring to a bunch of drunken Irish cops singing Irish songs in a bar on Christmas eve? Or maybe the NYPD choir is an epithet for all lonely drunken New Yorkers singing in a bar on Christmas eve. Anyway, the song captures something ineffable about NY.
2. It's romantic in it's way. Hey, they're still together. They may be spitting vitriole, but I feel the love...
3. We're all grown-ups. We know life is complicated.
4. Fill in your own interpretation.
Oops, misspelled "its" as "it's." Yes, I'm finicky.
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