The Christmas song “Fairytale of New York” oscillates between Broadway and a drunk tank, it tells of the hopes and falls of two hate lovers – and their dance on the cliff to their death. Apart from Shane MacGowan, there is probably only one person on earth who is able to present this piece with its history, tragedy and poetry sincerely. Of course we’re talking about Peter Doherty.
Fairy Tale of Peter Doherty
Together with the French musician Frédéric Lo and an orchestra in a white robe, he has reinterpreted the classic Pogues for French television. His own biography gives the performance its emotional power, the angelic voice does the rest. Once upon a time, drugs turned the Brit himself into an enfant terrible, always vowing to do better. Many pieces by his probably best-known band are documents of his addiction, often based on a scheme similar to “Fairytale of New York”: Doherty mimes the junkie without any sense of responsibility, Carl Barât the disappointed dearest brother. At least this anti-fairytale seems to have ended well for the time being: Doherty has been living drug-free for three years now, the Libertines are working on their fourth studio album after countless quarrels and separations.
One day our dreams will come true
Originally released in November 1987, Fairytale of New York featured Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl singing the immigration ballad as a duet. The Pogues singer also knows the story of his song only too well: According to his own statements, the Irishman started drinking at the age of four. One of his aunts had provided him with beer and cigarettes to familiarize the intoxicated child with Bible texts. He drank whiskey for the first time at the age of ten, in his youth he indulged in LSD and speed as a punk, at the latest in the nineties he sank into a heroin swamp. For the song, MacGowan took on the role of an Irish immigrant who doesn’t want to bury his hopes for love and a better life. “You took my dreams away from me,” his ex-wife accuses him in translated words. “I kept them with me,” he replies, “I put them with my own. I can’t do it alone. I’ve built my dreams around you.”