098: The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1988)

Buy on Amazon

“I’m bloody great.” 

–Shane MacGowan

What if you and your friends want to form a punk band, but the instruments you play are the banjo, accordion, and pennywhistle? The Pogues showed us that’s entirely possible, as long as you also have plenty of punk rock attitude, a frontman who can snarl vaguely in tune, and the ability to scream bloody murder at the slightest opportunity. Amanda, Ben, Rich, and special returning guest Sean Rodgers talk about how the Pogues used traditional Irish and British musical forms to tell new stories about ghosts, racehorses, immigration, injustice, loneliness, and the general hopelessness of the human condition, and made you want to get up and dance to all of it. 

Miscellany

• This is Sean’s second appearance on the podcast; his first was way back in episode 043, when he joined us to talk about Fully Completely by the Tragically Hip. 

• If you like the combination of Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues, you must listen to their wonderful recording of “Miss Otis Regrets” from 1990.

• Kirsty MacColl’s father was the illustrious folk musician Ewan MacColl, whose song “Dirty Old Town” was on the Pogues’ album Rum, Sodomy & the Lash.

• It’s a little unbelievable that Amanda went through this whole episode without saying a word about the banjo, besides that it exists. Rest assured that the banjo playing throughout the album is excellent. 

• We all regret that no one shouted “ALBATROSS!!” when “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” came up. 

• The Pogues’ themes of Irish nationalism caused a bit of a ruckus in Britain, and the song “Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six” was banned from British radio stations.

• “Fairytale of New York” was included in the weird and confusing musical A Very Murray Christmas in 2015. They cut the second verse.

• “Fairytale of New York” was also covered by Jon Bon Jovi in 2020 with different lyrics in the second verse, and the less said about that, the better. The version by Stars is okay, though. 

Other links 

• The official Pogues website 

• The Parting Glass: An Annotated Pogues Lyrics Page

• “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poetryfoundation.org)

• “Fairytale of New York” official video (YouTube)

• Shane MacGowan on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos (YouTube)

• Shane MacGowan: ‘Describe myself in three words? I’m bloody great.’ (The Guardian)

• Discord & Rhyme’s If I Should Fall from Grace with God playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Amanda Rodgers (host)

• Rich Bunnell (moderator)

• Ben Marlin

• Sean Rodgers (special guest) 

If I Should Fall from Grace with God tracklist 

1. If I Should Fall from Grace with God

2. Turkish Song of the Damned

3. Bottle of Smoke

4. Fairytale of New York

5. Metropolis

6. Thousands Are Sailing

7. South Australia

8. Fiesta

9. Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant/The Rocky Road to Dublin/The Galway Races

10. Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six

11. Lullaby of London

12. The Battle March Medley

13. Sit Down by the Fire

14. The Broad Majestic Shannon

15. Worms 

Other clips used 

The Pogues:

• Body of an American

• The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn

• Sally MacLennane

• Fairytale of New York [Demo]

• The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

• Tuesday Morning 

Others:

• The Damned - Turkey Song

• Bing Crosby - Galway Bay

• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Peter Gunn

• The Clancy Brothers - South Australia

• Def Leppard - Animal

• Six Fat Dutchmen - The Liechtensteiner Polka

• The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better

• The Stanley Brothers - Angel Band

• Liam Clancy - The Broad Majestic Shannon

• Pearl Jam - Bugs

• Mumford and Sons - Winter Winds

• Great Big Sea - Ordinary Day

• The Clancy Brothers - Whiskey, You're the Devil

Band/album personnel 

The Pogues:

• Shane MacGowan – vocals, guitar

• Spider Stacy – tin whistle, vocals

• James Fearnley – accordion, piano, mandolin, dulcimer, guitar, cello, percussion, string arrangements

• Jem Finer – banjo, saxophone

• Andrew Ranken – drums, vocals

• Philip Chevron – guitar, mandolin, vocals

• Darryl Hunt – bass, percussion, vocals

• Terry Woods – cittern lute, concertina, strings, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, vocals

Others:

• Ron Kavana – banjo, spoons, mandolin

• Kirsty MacColl – vocals on "Fairytale of New York"

• Siobhan Sheahan – harp

• Brian Clarke – alto saxophone

• Joe Cashman – tenor saxophone

• Paul Taylor – trombone

• Chris Lee – trumpet

• Eli Thompson – trumpet

• Fiachra Trench – string arrangements

• Steve Lillywhite – producer, engineer

• Chris Dickie – engineer

• Nick Lacey – engineer

• Roy Spong – engineer 

• The Pogues Choir (The Pogues, the man from the Indian take-away, Brian Sheridan from the off-licence, John Lawlor, Ron Kavana, Joe Cashman, Paul Verner, Steve Lillywhite, Paul Scully, Frank Murray) – backing vocals

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• The Pogues - Turkish Song of the Damned (this episode only)

You can buy or stream If I Should Fall from Grace with God and other albums by the Pogues at your local record store or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.