The Pogues tell Laurence Fox to ‘f*** off’ over Fairytale of New York ‘f****t’ lyric row
"You little herrenvolk s***e"
The Pogues have told right-wing commentator Laurence Fox to “f**k off” in a row over the lyrics to their classic Christmas song ‘Fairytale of New York’.
Yesterday, there was uproar on social media when it emerged BBC Radio 1 would not be playing the original version of the song this festive period, because of lyrics including “f****t” and “sl*t”.
Actor Fox reacted with anger, uging followers to send the song to number one in protest and to defund the BBC.
“You little herrenvolk s***e”
The star tweeted yesterday: “Here we go again. The cultural commissars at the @bbc are telling you what is and isn’t appropriate for your ignorant little ears.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we sent the (proper) version to the top of the charts? #DefundTheBBC.”
Here we go again. The cultural commissars at the @bbc are telling you what is and isn’t appropriate for your ignorant little ears. Wouldn’t it be nice if we sent the (proper) version to the top of the charts? #DefundTheBBC. RT https://t.co/XzE9aITgsH
— Laurence Fox (@LozzaFox) November 19, 2020
However, Fox’s take soon attracted the ire of the band in question, who later tweeted from @poguesofficial: “F**k off you little herrenvolk s***e.”
They don’t mince their words!
Fuck off you little herrenvolk shite https://t.co/znPSuhkSo0
— The Pogues (@poguesofficial) November 19, 2020
The Pogues first released the song, which also features the late singer Kirsty MacColl, in 1987. It reached number two in the singles charts, and his returned to the top 20 many times since.
“I don’t want to get into an argument”
Lead singer Shane MacGowan has previously addressed the use of the word, saying on The Tonight Show in 2018: “She is just supposed to be an authentic character and not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable, sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively.
“If people don’t understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word but I don’t want to get into an argument.”
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