Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/14/the-story-behind-the-pogues.html
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Did he pronounce Ennio Morricone as “morri-koan?”
This is a wonderful historical snippet. But narrator said “it’s hard to understate” when he clearly meant it’s hard to overstate just how big…"
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This wonderful song is to Christmas music what “Die Hard” is to Christmas movies. For me the holiday season wouldn’t be complete without enjoying both.
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Fun factoid: when they went to film the video for the song, the band asked if the actual NYPD Choir from the song could appear, but were told that the NYPD doesn’t actually have a choir, which is why there’s a pipe band with “City of New York Police Pipe Band” on a drum instead.
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When I play this song with kids in the room, it always tests my ability to either skip over the unfortunately well-enunciated “f****t” line with a quick fast-forward or just shout something like a loon over the top of it.
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Yeah, it’s too bad the song hasn’t aged well in that regard. I still can’t believe they play it on the radio.
I do the same thing when I’m with family at Christmas and young kids are over.
You cheap lousy HEY WHEN ARE WE HAVING DINNER?
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Or, explain that the song has two frustrated people who are angry at each other saying mean things that they’ll later regret. Substituting “Hagrid” worked when my kids were small Harry Potter fans, at least for a little while.
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As card-carrying homosexualists and die-hard Kirsty MacColl fans†, in my tribe we always turn it up at the faggot line point and shout it loud and proud.
† so much so that I published a Kirsty fanzine - https://www.kirstymaccoll.com/us-amazonians-a-fanzine/
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Frog-butt is usually the substitution of choice for us. Inelegant, yes, but inelegant problems call for such solutions.
[spoiler]I’m intrigued by your ideas, and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
I mean, I assume you have some sort of AGENDA.[/spoiler]
(EDIT in response to being flagged as inappropriate:)
I did not mean this post as an attack, or a criticism. To be clear, I consider myself both an ally, and a fan of Kristi McColl.
I made a ham-handed attempt at humor, attempting to poke fun at the trope of the “gay agenda”, in the context of having liked the post I was responding to. That failed miserably, to the consternation of a community I deeply appreciate. I am sorry for that.
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Far and away my favorite Christmas song.
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I have never heard of this song until a month or so ago. Now tons of people are claiming it is their favorite Christmas song. I’m calling Mandela Effect on this. This song didn’t exist until this year and everyone claiming to love it for years is a government shill or brainwashed NPC!
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The use of the F word though, doesn’t it now fall into Mark Twain territory.
I think it does. It does for me.
That song will always be a good song.
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(Edit pending.)
Mark Twain territory
I sort of agree with this. It’s a product of its time, within the context of the work itself it makes sense and doesn’t seem to demonstrate much — for lack of a better term — meta-malice.
But to stick with the Mark Twain example, although I can still find it a valuable and entertaining work that is worth preserving and sharing, I would also feel deeply uncomfortable reading parts aloud to my children.
I’m not sure we’ve invented the correct mental and linguistic toolset for productively engaging with these sorts of works yet?
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One of us needs to check our meds because I’ve hated this song for over 20 years.
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Not yet…
…but we’ve always done so.
