As the festive period kicks in Christmas songs are back with a bang but one song remains under the spotlight.
Yesterday two RTÉ radio presenters, Eoin McDermott and Stephen Byrne, acknowledged The Pogues classic ‘Fairytale of New York’ use of the word ‘faggot’ needs to be censored.
McDermott, through a string of tweets, highlighted that the word made some station staff uncomfortable as it is a reminder of homophobic attitudes. While the songs use of the word continues to debated online, writer and singer Shane McGowan released a statement insisting the song was never meant to offend:
Through a statement posted on his Instagram The Pogues frontman acknowledged the problematic lyrics and insisted the lyrics were based on not a very nice person:
McGowan gives us a statement with his reaction to the #FairytaleofNewYork censorship calls @VirginMedia_One #TonightVMT pic.twitter.com/LudzWjZK9l
— The Tonight Show (@TonightVMT) December 6, 2018
The 60-year-old singer confirmed that he is “fine” with the word being bleeped from the song in future:
If peole 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
Yesterday RTÉ confirmed they will not be censoring the lyrics of ‘Fairytale of New York’.
