I know I said it last year as well, (and thanks to Clare who has held off putting up so I could), but there is nothing that says Christmas to me more than a drunken, somewhat off-key rendition of Fairytale of New York. There is sadness at Kirsty MacColl’s death which was just before Christmas a decade or so ago, but in many ways that just adds to pathos of this track.
For me it makes me think of Christmas Eves in Dunedin in my late teens and early 20s. Belting this out with friends before making the call on whether a candlelight service was really a good idea in the circumstances.
So this is for all my friends who I don’t see or talk to often enough- especially Alex, who can actually sing this and sound like Shane McGowan, in tune. Happy Christmas one and all.