Fairytale of New York
"Fairytale of New York" is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their London-based band the Pogues, featuring English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a duet, with the Pogues' singer MacGowan taking the role of the male character and MacColl playing the female character. It was originally released as a single on 23 November 1987[1] and later featured on the Pogues' 1988 album If I Should Fall from Grace with God.
This article is about the song. For other uses, see Fairytale of New York (disambiguation)."Fairytale of New York"
Originally begun in 1985, the song had a troubled two-year development history, undergoing rewrites and aborted attempts at recording, and losing its original female vocalist along the way, before finally being completed in August 1987. Although the single has never been the UK Christmas number one, being kept at number two on its original release in 1987 by the Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always on My Mind", it has proved enduringly popular with both music critics and the public: to date, the song has reached the UK Top 20 on twenty separate occasions since its original release in 1987, including every year at Christmas since 2005. As of September 2017, it had sold 1.2 million copies in the UK, with an additional 249,626 streaming equivalent sales, for a total of 1.5 million combined sales.[2] In December 2023, the song was certified sextuple platinum in the UK for 3.6 million combined sales.[3]
In the UK, "Fairytale of New York" is the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century.[4] It is frequently cited as the best Christmas song of all time in various television, radio, and magazine-related polls in the UK and Ireland,[5][6] including the UK television special on ITV in December 2012 where it was voted The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song.[7]
"Fairytale of New York" was announced as The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song in a 90-minute special on ITV on 22 December 2012, following a UK-wide survey of ITV viewers. In the UK it is the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century.[4] The song has featured in many UK and Ireland-based surveys and polls:
In topping another UK poll in December 2014, The Independent states, "The poll is the latest in a number of surveys that has named "Fairytale of New York" the nation's favourite Christmas song."[6] The song was the subject of BBC Radio 4's Soul Music series on 22 December 2015.[10]
Other versions[edit]
Comedian Bill Murray sang it in his 2015 television special A Very Murray Christmas.[4] In December 2017, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and Anne-Marie performed the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[59] In December 2018, Irish actress Saoirse Ronan and host Jimmy Fallon performed it on his talk show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[60] In the BBC's Gavin & Stacey – Christmas Special, broadcast on Christmas Day 2019, Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon sang the uncensored version of the song as their characters Nessa Jenkins and Uncle Bryn.[61]
The song was covered by American singer Jon Bon Jovi in 2020 as part of a three-track EP, A Jon Bon Jovi Christmas, and features re-written lyrics as well as Bon Jovi singing both vocal parts.[62] The version was widely panned by both critics and fans, and labelled one of the worst songs of 2020 by several publications.[62][63][64][65] Irish musician Rob Smith said: "I have heard Bon Jovi's cover of Fairytale Of New York. It's the worst thing to ever happen to music, and I am including both the murder of John Lennon and Brian McFadden's solo career in there. This is worse!" The Pogues' Twitter account retweeted the post, adding "What Rob said".[66] Steve Lillywhite, producer of the original track, additionally wrote, "The worst ever version of this song. Sorry Jon... embarrassing and pointless".[62] However, MacGowan reportedly enjoyed the "interesting and soulful" cover, according to a tweet from his wife Victoria Mary Clarke.[66]
In 2023, NFL players and brothers Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce covered the song, with the title changed to "Fairytale of Philadelphia", for the charity album A Philly Special Christmas, raising money for the Children's Crisis Treatment Center and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.[67]