Another death. Another funeral. Like Benjamin Zephaniah, Shane MacGowan was only sixty five. He was born in Kent in England but his parents were Irish and his spiritual homeland was back in County Tipperary. With drink and drugs, Shane seemed to have an active self-destruct button so I suppose that it is something of a miracle that he made it to sixty five.
He was the creative force behind The Pogues and managed to find a way to marry punk with elements of Irish traditional music. He had a way with words.
This afternoon, BBC World News covered the three hours of his sometimes chaotic funeral, beamed live to our living room from the town of Nenagh, County Tipperary. It was a heady mix of remembrances, readings, music, prayers, mistakes and a traditional Catholic mass. The church was packed for Shane was much loved and attendees no doubt recognised his essential humanity, his poetic soul and the struggles he had had to just to navigate life on an even keel. His friend Johnny Depp was there, reading one of the short prayers and so was Michael D. Higgins - The President of Ireland
Shane wrote "A Fairytale of New York" back in 1987 and it became one of those Christmas hits that endures as the years pass - "The boys of the NYPD choir/ Were singing Galway Bay/ And the bells were ringing out/ For Christmas Day". The remaining Pogues and other friends played it at his funeral today as some of his family danced in the aisles. It was a hell of a way to say goodbye.
He could have lived a safer, more comfortable life but that was not in his nature. He was out there on the edge, pushing the boundaries, taking risks, drinking it all in, relishing this gift of life. Yes indeed - Shane MacGowan made his mark.
I can't see the clip - not available in Australia!
ReplyDeleteIt is people like Shane who live on the edge and push those boundaries that give us such amazing gifts in music and words and passion. His might not have been a conventional life but it was a life well lived.
Sorry about that SM. Australia should have paid its SKY subscription.
DeleteLoved him. I think Rainy Night in Soho is one of the most beautiful songs. A true love song. That and Haunted with Sinéad. ♥
ReplyDeleteOh yes - "Rainy Night in Soho"... That was played at his funeral too with Nick Cave at the piano.
DeleteMost of us would like to "give it" like Shane but we can't pull the trigger. We are left to enjoy his creations.
ReplyDeleteWe need people like that - out on the edge.
DeleteA life lived on the edge can be exciting, and can provide some breathtaking talents, but it inevitably ends too soon ... even at 65.
ReplyDeleteIf we all lived safely there'd be no progress.
DeleteThe clip played fine for me, easy to listen to but not my kind of music. Sad that another one is gone too soon.
ReplyDeleteI found another source for the clip because Sparkling Merlot could not access the "SKY" clip.
DeleteWhen my sister told me of Shane‘s death, my first thought was that it was a miracle he had lived as long as that. Only last Sunday, over our raclette O.K. and I were listening to a radio show playing all those well-known Christmas songs, and of course this one was one of them.
ReplyDeleteIt is a song that will last forever and will forever remind us of Shane MacGowan.
DeleteWell as someone who pottered past the great names of the music world, I am glad to be introduced to him now. The wake looked a lively affair, as it should be of course. It is a time to acknowledge the person in question.
ReplyDeleteThe Irish are especially good at that as I know from experience having buried my oldest brother in County Clare.
DeleteA sad year in Ireland with Shane, Sinead O'connor and Christy Dignam going to Heaven. Shane was a genius and working class hero. I miss them all very much.
ReplyDeleteWhen he was a boy, he got a scholarship to Westminster School... but managed to get expelled for drug dealing.
DeleteI wonder if your brother who died this year? was similar. Lived with self indulgence and loved his addictions. Our own 'bad boy' muso Nick Cave was at the funeral.
ReplyDeleteMy brother Simon was a misanthrope but Shane MacGowan loved people and life. Yes - Nick Cave played a great version of "A Rainy Night in Soho" at the funeral.
DeleteI've not heard of the man, the band or the song but I do rather like listening to the song.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that the money brought along with fame doesn't also prevent us from falling into those age old traps of too many drugs and alcohol.
At the funeral, his wife gave a very long speech that lingered far too long upon Shane's use of a variety of drugs, suggesting that through drugs he was trying to find extra truths and understanding.
Delete"A Fairytale of New York" has become a standard Christmas song on British radio stations and in our pubs. It's hard to get away from it but it is a great song in my opinion.
Immortality is being remembered.
ReplyDeleteBest to be remembered fondly for good things.
DeleteApparently he was sober since 2016. He spent most of the last years of his life in a wheelchair. He might have had some fierce demons but I did love his music.
ReplyDeleteYes. I read that too. Sounds like his wild days were over.
DeleteMy son Hank has always loved that Christmas song. He posted on FaceBook yesterday about people coming together to sing Shane's songs in the streets.
ReplyDeleteThey paraded his coffin through the rainy streets of Dublin and people spontaneously burst into song.
DeleteI didn't know of him. A nice celebration to honor him.
ReplyDeleteI only post about the passing of truly great men and women.
DeleteI've heard of the Pogues but I don't really know Shane or his music. It's remarkable, when you think about it, how many talented people are out there doing their thing, and for whatever reason we just don't cross paths with their craft.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. We can only "carry" so much - not everything.
DeleteI've only heard that song twice, both in the past few days. But I think any passing should be celebrated in such a riotously, joyous way. If I believed in an afterlife, I would say I think Shane MacGowan was smiling at that performance.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good way to go.
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