The Pogues were founded in King's Cross, a district in north London, in 1982 as Pogue Mahone - "pogue mahone" being the Anglicisation of the Irish póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse". The band specialised in Irish folk music, often playing with the energy of the punk rock scene from which several of the members had their roots.
Their politically-tinged music was reminiscent of The Clash, with whom they played (Joe Strummer produced one of their albums and even joined the group briefly), and used traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, banjo, cittern, mandolin, accordion, and more. In the later incarnations of the band, after the departure of Shane MacGowan, electronic instruments such as the electric guitar would become more prominent. The first of The Pogues' albums, Red Roses for Me, borrows much from the punk tradition of MacGowan's previous band The Nipple Erectors (later dubbed The Nips).
Band history
Shane MacGowan (vocals), James Fearnley (accordion) and Spider Stacy (tin whistle) were the original members of the Pogues, in the days when they busked on the streets of London. Before the rest of the group formed, MacGowan and Stacy were rumoured to have played impromptu performances on street corners and city buses which attracted local interest to their talent. They later added Jeremy 'Jem' Finer (guitar, banjo), Cait O'Riordan (bass) and Andrew Ranken (drums). The band rapidly developed a reputation, started releasing independent work, and ended up opening for The Clash on tour in 1984. Shortening their name to "The Pogues" due to lack of radio play for the curse in their name, they released their first album Red Roses for Me that October.
Phil Chevron (guitar) joined the group soon after, then with the aid of punk and new wave forefather Elvis Costello they recorded the follow up, Rum Sodomy & the Lash, in 1985 (The album title is a famous comment attributed, probably falsely, to Winston Churchill and others in describing the traditions of the British Royal Navy). The album cover featured The Raft of the Medusa, though the faces on the characters in Géricault's painting have been replaced with those of the band members. While the first album had featured a higher percentage of traditional songs, Shane MacGowan came into his own as a songwriter with this disc, offering up poetic story-telling, such as "The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn" and "The Old Main Drag," as well as definitive interpretations of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and Eric Bogle's "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda," the latter of which has become more popular than the original recording.
The band failed to take advantage of the momentum created by the strong artistic and commercial success of their second album. They first refused to record another album (offering up the 4 track EP Poguetry in Motion instead); O'Riordan married Costello and left the band, to be replaced by bassist Darryl Hunt; and they added a multi-instrumentalist in Terry Woods, formerly of Steeleye Span. Looming over the band at this period (as throughout their entire career) was the increasingly erratic behaviour of their vocalist, principal songwriter and creative visionary, Shane MacGowan.
Success & breakup
The band remained stable enough to record If I Should Fall from Grace with God in 1988 (with its Christmas hit duet with Kirsty MacColl "Fairytale of New York") and 1989's Peace and Love. The band was at the peak of its commercial success, with both albums making the top 5 in the UK (nos. 3 and 5 respectively), but MacGowan was spiralling out of control. Following their next album, Hell's Ditch, MacGowan and the band parted company in 1991.
With his departure, the band was thrown into a state of flux. Without their singer, vocal duties were for a time handled by Joe Strummer, before Stacy finally took over permanently. Two politely received albums followed, the first of which, Waiting for Herb, contained the band's third and final top twenty single, "Tuesday Morning" which became their best selling single internationally. In 1996, the Pogues disbanded with just three members remaining.
Post breakup
Shane MacGowan founded Shane MacGowan and The Popes in 1994. They recorded two studio albums in the period up to their split in 2002. MacGowan's autobiography, A Drink With Shane MacGowan, co-written with his journalist girlfriend Victoria Mary Clarke, appeared in 2001. During this time the three other long-term members of the Pogues (Spider Stacy, Andrew Ranken and Darryl Hunt) played together briefly as the Vendettas.
Reunion
The band, including MacGowan, re-formed for a Christmas tour in 2001 and performed 9 shows in the UK in December [2004]. In 2002 Q magazine named The Pogues as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Also in December 2004, VH1 Conducted a poll to find the best Christmas song ever, with "Fairytale of New York" coming number one with 2,650 of the 10,000 votes cast - over 25%. In early 2005, VH1 conducted another poll to find the 100 greatest number ones that never Were, With The Pogues coming in at number 27.
In July 2005, the band - again including MacGowan - played at the annual Guilfest festival in Guildford before flying out to Japan where they played three dates. Japan is the last place they all played together before MacGowan was originally sacked in 1991, and they have a strong following there. They played a date in Spain in early September. The reunited Pogues played dates in the UK with support from the Dropkick Murphys in late 2005, and re-released their 1987 Christmas classic "Fairytale Of New York" on 19th December, which went straight in at #3 in the UK Singles charts on Christmas Day 2005, showing the song's enduring popularity. On December 22nd 2005 the BBC broadcast a live performance (recorded the previous week) on the Jonathan Ross Christmas show with Katie Melua. "Fairytale of New York" was voted the greatest Christmas Record of all time for the second year running in a poll by UK Music Channel VH1, with "Fairytale of New York" taking in a whopping 39% of the overall vote.
The band was awarded the life-time achievement award at the annual Meteor Ireland Music Awards in February 2006.
In March 2011, the Pogues played a six-city/ten-show sell-out US tour titled "A Parting Glass with The Pogues". In August 2012, The Pogues undertook a 30th Anniversary European Tour.
Discography
Albums
Red Roses for Me - 1984, #89 UK
Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash - 1985, #13 UK
Poguetry in Motion (EP) - 1986, #29
If I Should Fall from Grace with God - 1988, #3 UK, #88 US
Peace and Love - 1989, #5 UK
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah (EP) - 1990, #43 UK
Hell's Ditch - 1990, #11 UK
Waiting for Herb - 1993, #20 UK
Pogue Mahone - 1996
The Best of The Pogues - 1991, #11 UK
The Rest of the Best - 1992
The Very Best of The Pogues - 2001, #18
The Ultimate Collection including Live at the Brixton Academy - 2001, #15 UK
Dirty Old Town: The Platinum Collection
Sea Shanty
The Pogues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wish to God I was back on the sea again
Though that belongs to the world of never will be
There was never a wilder bastard than me on the sea
I could fuck all the whores in damnation me boys
Though they wriggled and hollered and made a great noise
Then I'd drink till I stank and then drink plenty more
And I won't go down to the sea any more
And I'd toast all me neighbours both distant and dear
And I'd shoot back great belly-crippling buckets of beer
And a pox and a curse on the people round here
Wouldn't give you me the price of a half pint of beer
Wouldn't give you me the price of a cup of good cheer
A pox and a curse on the people round here
A man's ambition must indeed be small
To write his name upon a shithouse wall
But before I die I'll add my regal scrawl
To show the world I'm left with sweet fuck all
And when all of us bold shithouse poets do die
A monument grand they will raise to the sky
A monument made just to mark our great wit
A monument of solid shit now me boys
I met with Bill James we fought over crusts
I called him a whore and he booted me crotch
Then we shared out the jack and we thought it a treat
The compliments pass when the quality meet
The compliments pass when the quality meet
The compliments pass when the quality meet
The compliments pass when the quality meet
In the opening lines of The Pogues Sea Shanty, the singer expresses his nostalgia for the free-wheeling life at sea. He wishes he were “back on the sea again,” even if it means contending with the wildness and danger that come with it. He brags about his ability to take on a hedonistic lifestyle and enjoy the wild side of the sea, while also acknowledging that it’s a “world of never will be.” The singer seems to be longing for a time when he was wilder and less restrained by societal norms.
The singer then shifts his focus to the people around him, expressing his anger and frustration with the people of “dear dirty London.” The people are stingy and refuse to give him the price of even a half-pint of beer. He curses and wishes ill on them because they don’t recognize his worth or value his company.
In the final section of the song, the singer reflects on the legacy he wants to leave behind. He acknowledges that a man’s ambition is small if all he wants is to write his name on a shithouse wall, but he still wants to leave his mark on the world. He vows to contribute to the rich tradition of “bold shithouse poets” and leave a permanent legacy that symbolizes their wit and humor.
Line by Line Meaning
Dear dirty London in the pouring rain
The singer is unhappy in the city of London in bad weather.
I wish to God I was back on the sea again
The singer misses being on the sea.
Though that belongs to the world of never will be
Despite wanting to go back to the sea, the singer realizes it's not possible.
There was never a wilder bastard than me on the sea
The artist was extremely wild and unruly while at sea.
I could fuck all the whores in damnation me boys
The artist was sexually promiscuous with prostitutes while at sea.
Though they wriggled and hollered and made a great noise
The prostitutes were loud and lively during sexual encounters with the singer.
Then I'd drink till I stank and then drink plenty more
The singer drank heavily while at sea.
And I won't go down to the sea any more
The artist has no desire to return to the sea.
But if I had ten pounds then I'd raise a loud cheer
The artist would celebrate with a loud cheer if he had ten pounds.
And I'd toast all me neighbours both distant and dear
The artist would raise a glass to his neighbors if he had the chance.
And I'd shoot back great belly-crippling buckets of beer
The singer would drink a large amount of beer.
And a pox and a curse on the people round here
The artist curses the people around him who won't give him money.
Wouldn't give you me the price of a half pint of beer
The people won't give the singer even a small amount of money.
Wouldn't give you me the price of a cup of good cheer
The people won't give the singer any money to buy alcohol.
A pox and a curse on the people round here
The singer again curses the people around him for not giving him money.
A man's ambition must indeed be small
The artist believes writing on a bathroom wall is a small and insignificant ambition.
To write his name upon a shithouse wall
The artist sees writing on a bathroom wall as meaningless.
But before I die I'll add my regal scrawl
The singer wants to leave his mark on the world.
To show the world I'm left with sweet fuck all
The singer wants to show that he has nothing of value left in his life.
And when all of us bold shithouse poets do die
The artist considers himself and other writers of bathroom graffiti to be poets.
A monument grand they will raise to the sky
The artist believes there will be a grand monument built to honor these poets after they pass away.
A monument made just to mark our great wit
The monument will recognize the wit of these poets.
A monument of solid shit now me boys
The monument will be made of solid excrement, as a reference to the location of the poetry.
I met with Bill James we fought over crusts
The artist fought with someone named Bill James over scraps of food.
I called him a whore and he booted me crotch
After insulting Bill James, he kicked the singer in the groin.
Then we shared out the jack and we thought it a treat
Despite fighting, they eventually shared a drink together.
The compliments pass when the quality meet
True compliments only come when two people of equal quality meet.
The compliments pass when the quality meet
Repeat of previous line.
The compliments pass when the quality meet
Repeat of previous line.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SHANE PATRICK LYSAGHT MACGOWAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind