Random Thinking

Here’s the song of the week from my iPod. Beth says this is the best Christmas song ever.

The Pogues are an Irish rock band playing a mix of traditional Irish music heavily influenced by punk music with strong political leanings. The group mixed modern instruments such as the electric guitar with traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, cittern, and accordion. The original name of the group was Pogue Mahone (póg mo thóin) meaning “kiss my arse” in Irish. The group has had various members over the years but they have included Shane MacGowan (vocals), Peter “Spider” Stacy (tin whistle), Jem Finer (banjo), Cait O’Riordan (bass), James Fearnley (accordion), Phil Chevron (guitar), Terry Woods (mandolin and cittern), Darryl Hunt (bass), and Andrew Ranken (drums). Cait O’Riordan left the group in 1986 when she married Elvis Costello.

The Pogues were originally formed by Shane McGowan in 1982 but due to his drinking problems he left the group in 1991. McGowan’s singing was replaced by Joe Strummer of the Clash and later by Spider Stacy who had played the tin whistle in the group. The group is famous for McGowan’s drinking problems as he is often drunk while performing but his banshee wail makes The Pogues one of the “50 Bands To See Before You Die” according to Q magazine. The group broke up in 1996 but reformed in 2001 with McGowan but only for touring and have no plans to release a new album.

“Fairytale of New York” was released as a single in 1987 and reached #1 in the Irish charts and #2 in the British charts over Christmas. The song features the singing of Shane McGowan and Kirsty MacColl in a duet. The song has become a Christmas classic in the UK and Ireland, and was voted the best Christmas song of all time three years running starting in 2004 in polls by VH1 UK.

In 2007 the song was briefly censored by the BBC because of the word “faggot” being deemed potentially offensive to gay people. Following protests from listeners, including the mother of Kirsty MacColl, the censorship was lifted. MacColl had died in 2000 in an accident in Cozumel. MacColl and her sons were diving in a restricted boating area. When they surfaced, a speeding boat entered the area. MacColl was able to push her son out of the way but in doing so she was struck by the boat and killed. The boat was owned by Mexican supermarket millionaire Guillermo González Nova but he denied driving the boat claiming an employee was at the controls. The employee was sentenced to three years in prison for negligence but was allowed to pay $90 in lieu of serving his sentence.

Merry Christmas!

Fairytale of New York
It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won’t see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in at ten to one
I’ve got a feeling
This year’s for me and you
So Happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They’ve got cars big as bars
They’ve got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It’s no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You’re a bum
You’re a punk
You’re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone
I’ve built my dreams around you

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas Day

The Pogues – A Fairytale Of New York

Mikey can be very stubborn. Lately we had difficulty getting him to get on the bus. He would refuse to go out and when we drove him to school he would refuse to get out of the car. When we went to his Saturday recreation program he would also refuse to get out of the car. It was becoming increasingly difficult and frustrating to the point where we were ready to pull our hair out.

A couple of weeks ago when I took him to the Saturday program I couldn’t get him out the car and I was getting frustrated at the idea of carrying him in because he tends to hit and throw himself around when you try that. Mikey was screaming at me because he just wanted to go for a ride and didn’t want to get out. Finally in frustration I reached into my pocket and as a joke I took out a dollar and said, “I’ll give you a dollar if you go in.” Immediately he stopped screaming. He unbuckled himself, took the dollar, walked in to the school, and went right to the candy machine. It was like a miracle.

Michel talked to Mikey’s therapist and she said, “Let’s try it at school too.” They set up a little shop for him where he could use his dollar to buy things like Fruit Loops and milk. In the morning I offered him a dollar to get on the bus. He took the dollar and went right out, handing the dollar to the bus driver. She was a bit confused but I explained what was going on and so the aide held the dollar for Mikey until he was buckled in. Mikey held onto his dollar until he got to school, went right to his classroom without any trouble and then strolled over to the little market area. He picked out his treat and paid with his dollar.

It has worked every day since we started doing it. Who would have figured that Mikey was just looking for a little cash to behave!

Here’s the song of the week from my iPod. Beth and I heard this group on the radio and it reminded me how much I like them. In fact, I have three of their songs on my iPod. It was hard to pick which one to make the song of the week.

Crowded House is a rock band formed in Australia by Neil Finn and Paul Hester when their group Split Enz broke up in 1984. The members of the group are from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The band has gone through various incarnations over the years but the current members are Neil Finn (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Seymour (bass), Mark Hart (guitar), and Matt Sherrod (drums).

The group’s first album was released in 1986 and received worldwide praise and success. The album had five hit singles and went platinum in the US and Australia (6X platinum). They have never been able to recapture success in the US and their albums have failed to reach Gold status. However the group has continued to have huge success in the UK and Australia with all of their albums going Platinum “down under.”

After the group’s failure to make a dent in the US charts with their second album, the group was ready to try again with the album, “Woodface”. The first single from the album, “Chocolate Cake”, is a humorous look at American excesses (“The excess of fat on your American bones will cushion the impact as you sink like a stone”). But it sealed their fate in the US as it offended some people and failed to make the Billboard charts in the US. It was very successful in the UK and Australia however.

Chocolate Cake
Not everyone in New York
Would pay to see Andrew Lloyd Webber
May his trousers fall down
As he bows to the queen and the crown
I don’t know what tune that the orchestra played
But it went by me sickly and sentimental

Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Tammy Baker’s got a lot on her plate
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake?
Andy Warhol must be laughing in his grave

The band of the night
Takes you to ethereal heights over dinner
You wander the streets
Never reaching the heights that you seek
And the sugar that dripped from the violin’s bow
Made the children go crazy, put a hole in the tooth of a hag

Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Tammy Baker must be losing her faith
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake?
Andy Warhol must be laughing in his grave

And the dogs are on the road, we’re all tempting fate
Cars shooting by with no number plates
And here comes Mrs. Hairy Legs

I saw Elvis Presley walk out of a 7-Eleven (that’s right)
And a woman gave birth to a baby and then bowled 257
The excess of fat on your American bones
Will cushion the impact as you sink like a stone

Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Tammy Baker, Tammy Baker
Can I buy another cheap Picasso fake?
Cheap Picasso, cheap Picasso fake
Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Kathy Straker, boy could she lose some weight
Can I buy another slice of real estate?
Liberace must be laughing in his grave

Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?
Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?