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
Transmetropolitan
The Pogues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We'll sit and have a drink
Of VP wine and cider 'til we can hardly think
And we'll go where the spirits take us
To heaven or to hell
And kick up bloody murder in the town we love so well
Going transmetropolitan
To the doors of the ICA
Going transmetropolitan
We'll drink the rat's piss, kick the shite
And I'm not going home tonight
From Brixton's lovely boulevards
To Hammersmith's sightly shores
We'll scare the Camden Palace poofs
And worry all the whores
There's leechers up in Whitehall
And queers in the GLC
And when we've done those bastards in
We'll storm the BBC
Going transmetropolitan
From Surrey Docks to Somers Town
With a KMRIA
Going transmetropolitan
We'll drink the rat's piss, kick the shite
And I'm not going home tonight
From a 5 pound bet in William Hills
To a Soho sex-shop dream
From a fried egg in Valtaro's
To a Tottenham Court Road ice cream
We'll spew and lurch, get nicked and fixed
On the way we'll kill and maim
When you haven't got a penny, boys
It's all the bloody same
Going transmetropolitan
From Pentonville Road on a sunset eve
To the beauty that's Mill Lane
Going transmetropolitan
We'll drink the rat's piss, kick the shite
And I'm not going home tonight
This town has done us dirty
This town has bled us dry
We've been here for a long time
And we'll be here 'til we die
So we'll finish off the leavings
Of blood and glue and beer
And burn this bloody city down
In the summer of the year
Going transmetropolitan
From Arlington House with a 2 bob bit
To the Scottish shores today
Going transmetropolitan
We'll drink the rat's piss, kick the shite
And I'm not going home tonight
The Pogues' song Transmetropolitan is an ode to the life and times of a group of friends looking for adventure and amusement in the streets of London. The lyrics paint a picture of a rowdy and rebellious group of individuals who seemingly have nothing to lose and everything to gain by experiencing all the city has to offer. The opening lines already set the tone for a carefree atmosphere: "In the rosy parks of England / We'll sit and have a drink / Of VP wine and cider 'til we can hardly think". The following verses then go on to describe their journey from King's Cross to ICA, from Brixton to Hammersmith, and from Soho to Mill Lane, painting a vivid portrait of their transmetropolitan adventures.
The lyrics are full of references to the seedy underbelly of London's nightlife, with mentions of drinking cheap alcohol, visiting sex shops, and getting into fights with the authorities. The chorus repeats the phrase "Going transmetropolitan" as a sort of rallying cry for the group to continue on their wild journey, even when it means staying out all night and committing acts of vandalism. The final verse even hints at a desire to burn the city down: "And burn this bloody city down / In the summer of the year".
Overall, the song Transmetropolitan captures the spirit of youthful rebellion and adventure, set against the backdrop of a gritty and chaotic city. The lyrics are full of slang and references to specific locations, giving the song a distinctly British feel. Yet, the themes of resistance to authority and a desire to break free from societal norms are universal, making this song relatable to anyone who has ever yearned for a little bit of excitement in their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
In the rosy parks of England
We will sit in the beautiful gardens of England
We'll sit and have a drink
We'll enjoy some alcoholic beverages
Of VP wine and cider 'til we can hardly think
We'll drink VP wine and cider until we're extremely intoxicated
And we'll go where the spirits take us
We'll let our drunkenness guide us
To heaven or to hell
We'll end up in either a good or bad situation
And kick up bloody murder in the town we love so well
We'll cause chaos and revel in the destruction of the town we love
From the dear old streets of King's Cross
Starting from the familiar and nostalgic streets of King's Cross
To the doors of the ICA
We'll venture to the Institute of Contemporary Arts
We'll drink the rat's piss, kick the shite
We'll consume low-quality alcohol and cause trouble
And I'm not going home tonight
I won't return home tonight
To Hammersmith's sightly shores
We'll go to Hammersmith's attractive riverfront
We'll scare the Camden Palace poofs
We'll intimidate the effeminate men at the Camden Palace club
And worry all the whores
We'll cause concern for the prostitutes
There's leechers up in Whitehall
There are corrupt and greedy people in Whitehall
And queers in the GLC
There are homosexuals in the Greater London Council
And when we've done those bastards in
When we've taken care of those unsavory characters
We'll storm the BBC
We'll forcefully enter the British Broadcasting Corporation
From a 5 pound bet in William Hills
Starting from a small bet at William Hill bookmakers
To a Soho sex-shop dream
We'll visit a sex shop in Soho
From a fried egg in Valtaro's
Starting with a simple egg dish at Valtaro's diner
To a Tottenham Court Road ice cream
Ending with ice cream from Tottenham Court Road
We'll spew and lurch, get nicked and fixed
We'll vomit, stumble, get arrested and use drugs
On the way we'll kill and maim
We'll harm others during our journey
When you haven't got a penny, boys
When you're broke, boys
It's all the bloody same
Nothing really matters
This town has done us dirty
The town has treated us badly
This town has bled us dry
The town has taken everything from us
We've been here for a long time
We've spent plenty of time here
And we'll be here 'til we die
We'll be here until we die
So we'll finish off the leavings
We'll use up the remaining drugs, alcohol, and other vices
Of blood and glue and beer
Consuming drugs, alcohol and glue
And burn this bloody city down
We'll set fire to the entire city
In the summer of the year
During the summer
From Arlington House with a 2 bob bit
Starting from Arlington House with a small amount of money
To the Scottish shores today
Venturing all the way to Scottish shores today
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SHANE PATRICK LYSAGHT MACGOWAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind