The Pogues: ‘No one will ever make another classic Christmas song again’-Danni Scott-Entertainment – Metro

The Pogues are behind one of the most iconic Christmas songs of all time ((Picture: Holly Whittaker/SJM Concerts)

Fairytale of New York is one of the most beloved (and controversial) Christmas songs out there, so unsurprisingly The Pogues ‘don”t want competition’.

Released in 1988, the band’s festive hit is a constant in the December charts, and gained extra boost last year due to the tragic death of singer Shane MacGowan.

Despite the addictive song’s enduring popularity, the remaining founding band members — James Fearnley, Jem Finer, and Spider Stacy — aren’t sick of it yet.

In fact, the trio would rather no new Christmas songs were ever released so their place as one of the ultimate festive tunes isn’t threatened.

‘We don’t want competition,’ joked Spider as they spoke to Metro ahead of their newly-announced UK 2025 Tour.

The Pogues are heading out on tour next year (Picture: Douglas Mason/Getty Images)

‘After the success of Fairytale of New York, no one can possibly ever make another classic Christmas song again,’ declared Jem.

That’s not to say the A Pair of Brown Eyes singers don’t like other festive songs, more that writing a Christmas classic is not as easy as you’d think.

Spider explained: ‘Actually, it’s very hard to write a really good Christmas song.You can write a kind of a novelty hit that you release around Christmas time that goes to number one but to actually sit down and write, “Okay, this is actually a Christmas song that is going to be a Christmas song.”

‘I mean, it took us two years, at least, to get Fairytale to be in a recordable shape.’

He does approve of Mariah Carey’s 1994 song All I Want For Christmas, saying it’s the only one in ‘recent decades that actually sounds like a Christmas song.’

Fairytale of New York has become almost bigger than it’s creators over the years, from controversial lyrics to the shocking death of Shane’s duet partner Kirsty MacColl in 2000.

It has appeared in countless films and TV shows, including the uncensored version in 2019’s Gavin and Stacey special.

Despite being frequently voted at the top of favourite Christmas song lists, The Pogues don’t actually ‘hear it that much’.

Guitarist Jem shared: ‘We heard it earlier, and it sounded really … there’s something about… There’s lots of our songs that one hears occasionally, and they sound amazing, and they sound like really fresh, which is great.

‘I always hoped that back in the day, that that’s what would [happen]. If you’ve got your roots and tradition, you’re already kind of timeless in a sense.’

However, this all-consuming festive track has a downside as Jem — who co-wrote the song with Shane — explained.

‘Something that’s a bit annoying about Fairytale of New York,’ he revealed. ‘The record company, they always want to promote Fairytale of New York, but there’s all these other great songs, there’s loads more that really can be great if they got promoted to more.

‘It’s probably good that it’s just out at Christmas. For the rest of the year, it’d be nice if they did push other stuff.’

The Pogues 2025 UK tour dates

When asked which songs they’d love to see get a moment in the spotlight, James said: ‘I always thought that the Broad Majestic Shannon should have been our follow up single to Fairytale, that’s the one I would most definitely like to see rereleased.’

However, these days rereleasing is a ‘funny notion anyway’ as streaming makes everything permanently accessible.

Instead, Jem sees it as a way to spotlight songs that need a little more love, which is what they’re hoping to do with this upcoming tour.

The Rum Sodomy and the Lash Tour is their first UK headline tour in over 10 years, celebrating 40 years of their iconic album Rum Sodomy & the Lash.

In May, the trio reunited to perform a few small gigs in honour of the anniversary of their debut album so creating something for their second record felt natural.

Next year, they will visit Leeds, Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle with tickets on sale on Friday, November 22.

‘You can’t keep us away,’ joked James. ‘We just want to make noise because we love performing.’

For the Red Roses for Me gigs, special guests filled the vocal spot left behind by Shane, which the Pogues believe brought something new to the tracks.

‘I don’t think anyone had, I mean, I certainly didn’t have any conception of how that would turn out and it was a mind blowing, affirming thing,’ said Spider.

He praised the younger Irish artists who joined them on stage, calling it a ‘full circle moment’ of shared tradition.

Jem added: ‘When you’re young, you talk about tradition and you can’t really understand it in the same way as you can now, 40 years later. When you see it as a living thing that moves and has moved right through us into this new bunch.’

For Spider, these shows had that feeling of the early days of The Pogues, which they said they wouldn’t change for anything.

It’s not Christmas without The Pogues blaring out (Picture: Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

‘So much a product of its environment, and it’s time,’ the Boys from the County Hell hitmaker continued. ‘From our point of view, The Pogues becoming what they what they are and what we are, it wouldn’t have worked at any other time, in any other place, probably with any other people.’

This love of tradition also means the band aren’t so keen to embrace modern technology, with Jem teasing James over his early dislike of drum machines.

When asked about the possible use of AI to bring back Shane’s vocals, similarly to the Beatles’ recent track featuring John Lennon, the Pogues gave a resounding ‘no’.

”It’s very easy to sit here and go, “oh no, never,” but, I mean, probably no, never,’ replied Spider. ‘I think I know where you’re going, and the answer, really is no.’

James and Jem gave equally measured replies of ‘Oh no’ and ‘I don’t like that idea.’

The Pogues’ The Lash 2025 Tour tickets go on sale Friday, November 22.

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