Music4 min(s) read
New recording of Christmas classic 'Fairytale of New York' features two significant changes to controversial lyrics
Irish singer Hozier and actress Jessie Buckley have changed two controversial lyrics in their new rendition of the Christmas classic 'Fairytale of New York'.
The pair have teamed up to release the cover of The Pogues' 1987 song as part of Shane MacGowan's tribute album, 20th Century Paddy.
The original song was a duet between MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl and was a Christmas No. 1 in Ireland in 1987.
However, its lyrics have sparked decades of debate over the use of homophobic and sexist language.
Two controversial lyrics changed in new recording
In the song, MacColl and MacGowan take on the personas of an argumentative couple, with MacColl's character singing the homophobic slur "f****t".
In Hozier and Buckley's version, the lyric "you cheap lousy f****t" has been replaced with "you cheap lousy blaggard".
Another line, originally sung by MacGowan, has also been altered, with "you're an old sl** on junk" changed to "you're an old hag on junk".
Despite the changes, Hozier said the pair wanted to preserve the spirit of a song that had meant so much to them growing up.
"We approached the song with a hope of honoring everything about it that we had loved for as long as we had known it and, as members of a generation born after its release, as long as we could remember," he said.
"A song that broadened for us once, and now again, our understanding of just how unpredictably dynamic and imaginatively expansive a love song can be; the ground it can cover, the story it can tell. A story told in longing, in humor, in failure, in love, in pain, in acceptance, in loyalty. A song as beloved and familiar to us as home itself," he added.
In 2024, the 36-year-old performed the original song during Saturday Night Live's Christmas special, joined by three others: Melissa McMillan, Rachel Beauregard and Kamilah.
Jessie Buckley calls recording the song 'pure joy'
Buckley, known for her role in Hamnet, described the opportunity to record the song in the same studio used by MacGowan, MacColl, and The Pogues as a meaningful experience.
"To step into the very studio that Shane, Kirsty and The Pogues recorded 'Fairytale of New York' and to sing this eternal song of all our hearts, full of hope and humanity was pure joy," the Academy winner said.
"When Hozier, one of Ireland's greatest artists and souls asked me to be part of it, I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
"What a pleasure! What a song! What a gift to get to sing this story!" she added.
Shane MacGowan previously defended the controversial lyrics
The song's language has long divided listeners, with some arguing that the insults reflect its characters and others slamming the use of offensive terms in a Christmas classic.
After its release in 1987, MacGowan explained that the song tells the story of a troubled couple.
"My part is the man who’s got kicked out of the drunk tank on Christmas Eve night. His wife’s in hospital. She’s ill, and he’s just out of his skull," he said, per iNews.
"Then they’re having a row, and he keeps on bringing it on back to the good times, and she keeps handing out all the s**t.
"I haven’t got anything in common with the actual part that I’m singing – Yul Brynner isn’t really the King of Siam – except in the sense that I’ve had arguments with women and it’s usually ended up with some kind of reconciliation," he added.
In 2018, he again defended the song's language, arguing that it reflected the fictional character rather than his personal views.
"The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character," he said.
"She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history, and she is down on her luck and desperate.
"Her dialog is as accurate as I could make it, but she is not intended to offend! She is just supposed to be an authentic character, and not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable."
He concluded: "Sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively."
20th Century Paddy was released today, and features a duet between Johnny Depp and Imelda May, as well as features from the likes of Kingfishr, U2, and Bruce Springsteen.