BBC Cuts Up "Fairytale of New York"

Our all-time favorite Christmas song – that would be the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s “Fairytale of New York” – is in the news today. Apparently the BBC just realized (20 years after the song first came out!) that MacColl calls Pogues’ frontman Shane MacGowan a “faggot” at one point. (In case you’re not familiar with this most excellent tune, it tells the story of a pair of drunken, junkie lovers who can’t live with, or without, each other.) BBC’s Radio 1 has banned the offending word and has replaced the original song with an edited version that snips the “faggot.” We’re not exactly sure what the BBC thought it was hearing for the past two decades (Zagat?). But most of all, we’re totally jealous the Brits even get to hear the song on their radios. Our DJs are too busy spinning Josh Groban’s repulsive “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” to make room for “Fairytale.”

-- Michael Gallucci