Shane MacGowan: Outsiders, Underdogs, and Christmas Eve in the Drunk Tank

DISGRACELAND

Jake Brennan

Society & Culture, Music, True Crime

4.6 • 13.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Shane MacGowan lived his life as an outsider. He was an Irishman living in England, a troublemaking jug-eared punk with rotten teeth and a voracious appetite for drugs and alcohol. And with his band, The Pogues, he created a powerful synthesis of the traditional music of his homeland and a modern punk attitude. It was this gift for melding the sacred with the profane that led to the creation of one of the finest and most unique Christmas songs ever: "Fairytale of New York." What are your favorite Christmas songs? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, ⁠disgracelandpod@gmail.com⁠, or on socials @disgracelandpod. This episode was originally published on December 10, 2024. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at ⁠disgracelandpod.com/membership⁠. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - ⁠GET THE NEWSLETTER⁠ Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠X⁠ (formerly Twitter) ⁠Facebook Fan Group⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Double Elvis. Disgraceland is a production of an underdog, and it's the story of a drug-dealing juvenile, an acid-eating Irish drunk,
0:32.9	and a rivalry with Elvis. It's the story of Shane McGowan,
0:37.9	but it's also the story of one of maybe the greatest Christmas songs ever written.
0:43.5	Great music.
0:46.1	Unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show,
0:49.5	that wasn't great music.
0:51.3	That was a preset loop from a Melotron
0:53.6	called No Teeth All Soul, MK, One.
0:58.8	I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Moni-Money by Billy Idol.
1:04.4	And why would I play you that specific slice of fist-clenching, fist-pumping, finger-pointing,
1:09.8	cheese, could I afford it? Because that was the
1:13.8	number one song in America on November 23, 1987. And that was the day the Pogues released their single
1:21.0	Fairy Tale of New York. An unorthodox Christmas song, co-written by a man born on Christmas Day,
1:28.7	and a song that served as a turning point,
1:31.1	both good and bad for Shane McGowan.
1:34.6	On this episode,
1:36.5	An Underdog's Tale,
1:38.0	acid-eating drunk madness,
1:40.3	a rivalry with Elvis and Shane McGowan.
1:44.4	I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. Do you hear what I hear?
2:20.4	Sleigh bells ringing,
2:21.9	Yule Tide carolers singing?
	...

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