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A Fairytale of New York is a novel by J. P. Donleavy, published in 1973, originally a short story based on Donleavy's succesful stage play, Fairy Tales of New York. It concerns Irish-American Cornelius Christian's return to New York after studying in Ireland.
Fairytale of New York is an Irish folk style ballad by UK-based punk/folk group The Pogues, also featuring Kirsty MacColl.
It features two Irish immigrants, lovers or ex-lovers, reminiscing and bickering in the drunk tank over Christmas in New York. MacColl's melodious singing contrasts with the harsh sound of Shane MacGowan's voice and the lyrics which are sometimes bittersweet, sometimes plain bitter.
Sample from lyrics:
"You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot!
Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last".
The track was released as a single in 1987 and reached #1 in the Irish charts and #2 in the British charts over Christmas (the time of peak sales). It has since been covered by Ronan Keating and Maire Brennan, who changed the above lyric to "You scumbag, you maggot, you're cheap and you're haggard".
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