How Shane MacGowan really felt about ‘Fairytale of New York’

Exclusive: Musician’s wife, artist Victoria Mary Clarke, recalled spending Christmas with the late singer-songwriter and how he left behind ‘reams’ of prose

Shane MacGowan’s wife, Victoria May Clarke, has revealed how the late Pogues frontman felt about the success of his biggest hit, “Fairytale of New York”, as she reflected on their Christmases together.

MacGowan, who rose to national fame after co-founding The Pogues in 1982, was also born on Christmas Day in 1957, to Irish parents who raised him in Kent, England. He died on 30 November last year, aged 65.

“Shane was not fussed about Christmas at all, like he always said, ‘It’s Jesus’s birthday,’” Clarke recalled in an interview with The Independent.

“He never thought it was about presents or turkeys or any of that stuff. He indulged me, because I always insisted on having a tree, and he would think that was cute with the decorations.

“But he wasn’t fussed about presents unless they were things that he really wanted. The last Christmas he was here, I got him some albums that he absolutely loved and he was really excited about them. He wasn’t a materialistic person.”

Clarke, who recently held her first solo art exhibition at the City Assembly House in Dublin city centre, said she and MacGowan tended to prefer “quiet” Christmases: “He loved to go to his family in Tipperary, that was his favourite thing to do.”

Victoria May Clarke with her husband, Shane MacGowan (shanemacgowanofficial/Instagram)

He was amused by the popularity of “Fairytale of New York” – The Pogues’ duet with the late singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, which typically re-enters the charts in the UK each December.

Released in 1988, it is narrated from the perspective of a man who has been thrown into a drunk tank to sleep off his Christmas Eve binge, who begins to reminisce upon hearing another man sing Irish ballad “The Rare Old Mountain Dew”.

“I think he was genuinely pleased that people wanted to play it and that it was recognised, and he did definitely appreciate what a brilliant piece of songwriting,” Clarke said. “At the same time, he had other songs he was fond of that he might have liked people to know about.”

Among his favourites, she said, were The Pogues’ 1989 song “White City” and “Victoria”, which he performed with his band The Popes on the album The Snake in 1994.

She also singled out “Christmas Lullaby”, another Popes song: “Not many people know about it but it’s quite profound, especially now because there’s a line about Christmas in Palestine,” she said.

Shane MacGowan died last year, aged 65 (PA)

Clarke said she might eventually get around to compiling the “reams” of prose MacGowan wrote about characters who first appeared in his songs.

“He wrote a lot of stories about rehab,” she said. “He first went in there when he was 18, and he wrote very funny, dark and perceptive stories about the conversations he heard in there, and the interactions with his psychiatrist and the other patients. There’s masses of work that no one’s ever seen.”

Last week, Clarke opened up about the intense grief she experienced over MacGowan’s death, and how she was supported by many of his friends, including Australian musician Nick Cave.

“You just have to let yourself feel it. So there was a lot of howling and crying and feeling s*** – the symptoms are very physical, like a pain in your ribs – and you don’t want to get out of bed,” she said.

“My world was me and Shane most of the time,” she said. “He looked after me, we looked after each other. We were complete.”