Following the recent death of Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, Tom Waits took to Instagram in a post address your companion with special words. “Ah, the blessing of the cursed. Shane MacGowan’s fervent and powerful voice is mud and roses, punched out with swaggering swagger, ancient longing blasted all the way to hell. A bard’s bard, may he captivate us all forever. Let him go, boys, let him go into the mud where all rivers run dry…”. With these words, Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan expressed their condolences to the Pogues, MacGowan’s wife Victoria and everyone who loved him.
Eternal and timeless music
Bruce Springsteen and Nick Cave also shared their thoughts on the loss of the Irish singer and songwriter. He described his personal significance of MacGowan’s work to his followers: “Shane was one of my favorite authors. The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics are rivaled only by the best in the rock ‘n’ roll canon.” He continues: “The last time we were in Dublin I was lucky enough to have a little time to spend with Shane and his lovely wife Victoria. He was very sick, but still wonderfully present in his heart and mind. His music is timeless and eternal. (…) They will still be singing Shane’s songs in 100 years.”
“I was surrounded by all these artists playing beautiful versions of Shane’s songs”
Nick Cave remembered in his Newsletter “The Red Hand Files” to Shane MacGowans 60th birthday concert, for which Cave performed with, among others, Sinead O’Connor. He describes his encounter with the Pogues singer in detail. “I remember standing next to the stage at Shane’s 60th birthday concert in Dublin, feeling a little excited and nervous before the performance. I was surrounded by all these artists playing beautiful versions of Shane’s songs. “Shane was not only revered for his many talents, but loved for who he was alone. A beautiful and damaged man who embodied a kind of purity, innocence, generosity and spiritual intelligence like no other,” Cave wrote.
U2 frontman Bono paid tribute to him with a drawn portrait and an excerpt from the Pogues’ lyrics from “A Rainy Night in Soho”. He commented on his drawing: “Shane MacGowan’s songs were perfect, so he and we, his fans, didn’t have to be.”