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been listening to these guys again tonite and I have to say Shane McGowen has to be one of the best songwriters of all time, a classic case of flawed genius IMO

i've got em all mate, classics the lot, close call between 'if i should fall from grace with god' and 'rum, sodomy and the lash' for the best ones.

a measure of Shanes wisdom is that ' Rum...' Album name came from Winston Churchill's description of the navy

one of Shanes best abilities was turning other peoples songs into something different, 'Dirty Old Town' is a Ewen MacColl song (father of Kirsty) and Eric Bogle's 'Waltzing Matilda'

as for 'A Pair of Brown Eyes'

I cannot pretend to know the answer from listening but this is the write up from the 'best of'

'A vision of hell in the midst of life has two narrators, an ageless war vetern unable to obliterate the memory of 'blood and death beneath the screaming sky', and a young man thinking of his love far away who recoils from the tale of doom and horror that his drinking companion lays before him.


hope this helps!!!!!!

In my humble opinion, Churchill was the right man in the right place at one particular moment in our history. The rest of the time, he was an utter turd --- like most politicians, more interested in his own standing than in the country.

Pretty sure I saw The Pogues in some venue in Camden Town back in the early 1980s, before they were known, and before Shane looked like Tom Waite's debauched brother. Whoever it was I saw, they were class.

fairytale of new york is my fave xmas song. thought kirsty mcColl was a superb singer/songwriter, such a tragedy she died so young!

True, a very under-rated lyricist. Seems to get publicity for his bad teeth and drinking bunges.
I remember when The Pogues sacked Shane....................who did they replace him with?

The man was, or should I say, is a songwriting genius.

The working class still love to be despised and ridiculed. The massive popularity of "The Weakest Link"..... What more evidence do you need?