Comments on "Cheap Lousy Faggot"

Stop speaking for me.

Political correctness gone to far...censoring the Pogues for fear of offending teh gays? What are they, trying to ruin Christmas?

Fairytale is a constant earworm this time of year. I catch myself whistling it in the most inappropriate places.

Jesus, just another injustice for Kirsty. Don't these assholes realize she's an English national treasure. There should be a 90 foot tall statue of her outside the gate to the Mexican embassy.

Christmas doesn't get any better than this. Didn't the song recently get voted the 35th best song of all time in Britain?

35th best Christmas song ever? That's like the Nobel prize of music.

Thanks, BBC, but no thanks. The Pogues rule. Lighten up, indeed.

How presh

"CD my boyfriend made. We listen to it, oh, seven or eight thousand times every year"

I hope people aren't offended by the song because I love it and am not going to be able to stop playing it. What would Christmas be without dashed hopes and expressing your disappointment with everyone around you? Or is that Festivus?

The whole point of that verse is that they're trying to offend each other, and is the BBC not offended by the use of 'slut'?

Not the 35th-best Christmas song ever, Jason. The 35th-best SONG ever.

I like your idea, Brian. The plinth could say "murdered by Mexican businessman, covered up by Mexican government". A shocking story.

More importantly, CNN is reporting that Peter Jackson just signed on to make a movie of "The Hobbit." Now THAT'S news.

Live slogging KUOW's Weekday: Did I mention Joe Connelly sucks balls? Connelly sucks balls. Joni Balter too. If Rush Limbaugh covered WA politics, it would sound like this. Or David Broder, at least.

The British music industry is in a tizzy because the Christmas #1 this year is going to be an old song, either "Fairytale of New York" or Ernie K-Doe's "Here Comes the Girls", a 1960s New Orleans funk hit. The X-mas #1 race is usually the biggest commercial pop event of the year in the UK. Old songs in the top two positions is another nail in the music industry coffin there. They were probably the ones complaining to the BBC about the lyrics, since the Beeb doesn't censor lyrics much anymore.

@11

Cool. Now he can bore us to death with that.

The BBC isn't worried about offending anyone; they're worried about the fine they'll be hit with if they air that line uncensored. British law now more or less bans hate speech on air, and that line falls under the statute.

Beyond that, it's an indefensibly homophobic line, particularly since it's not ironic or part of an in-joke or something, and it doesn't belong in the song. Artistically, they didn't need to resort to it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7150693.stm

they've backed down.

btw, the word SLUT was also edited out.

settle down people, false alarm.

Something called "Slogur" @15 sez "Artistically, they didn't need to resort to it."

Fuck you. The line -- not just the word, the entire line -- MAKES the fucking song, you stupid fucking son of a contraceptive sponge. It's a fantastic lyric.

Okay, faggot experts. So can I call people "faggots" or not? Only if they're faggots? Only if they're not faggots? Only if they're gay faggots? Only if they're faggoty-ass faggots?

Seriously, what's the rule on "faggot"? It's not quite "nigger", but probably worse than calling a woman a "cunt", right? Unironically, of course. We'll save ironic for another discussion.

I thought she was referring to a cigarette.

#19
the onliest person you can call a faggot is your boyfriend in factthe onliest person you can call a cunt is your boyfriend ..in fact the onliest person you can call a nigger( or nig nog as the youguns have been saying recently )is your boyfriend , but only if he's white.

Hey, that song is second only to Father Christmas by The Kinks as my favorite KwanChannuMas tune.

19: you can't call anyone a faggot unless you are totally gay. Bi doesn't count. Just like only really dark skinned blacks can call people nigger.

You can however, call anyone you please a kike.

23: So Sammy Davis Jr. is set on all three fronts, then?

i heard it sung in Swedish on the muzak at IKEA on sunday.

The only thing I find offensive is the state of Shane MacGowan's teeth. JESUS.

Fnarf lacks artistry, too...

Kind of reminded me of this 60 minutes special about gays in the military, where one of them accidentally just said "homos" and then realizing his mistake tried to add "sexuals" on the end. Just made it worse though.

Funny how "homo" can be a term of endearment, but homosexual is some kind of straight-code slur or something. Is it the same way with fag/faggot? I've known people who were severely offended by the F word.

I assume that your Xmas CD compilation also includes Shirley Q. Liquor's "12 Days of Kwanzaa"

Just a note that the inimitable Kirsty Maccoll died 7 years ago today. Loved her!

Gods, someone remind me to not watch videos of the Pogues. I love the song to death, but Shane MacGowan is scary as all hell. Back to the recordings for me. =)

Anyone else get goosebumps when Kirsty gets to the line about "...well, so could anyone"?

@27: No Slogur, YOU lack artistry. I have long suspected that people who suggest naughty language has no place in music are the same people who advocate covering up the genitals on public sculptures, it's the same idea.

Music is art. Sometimes art can be offensive, but that's no reason to censor it, and any media company that does so should be ashamed.

slogur@15

Beyond that, it's an indefensibly homophobic line, particularly since it's not ironic or part of an in-joke or something, and it doesn't belong in the song. Artistically, they didn't need to resort to it.

Have you ever listened to the song you pretentious crapsack? I mean really, really listened to it? Additionally if the line is so "indefensibly homophobic" then how would making it "ironic" (do you even know what that word means?) or "...part of an in-joke" make it any less so? Oh, by the way, I think that you should be stripped naked, beaten to a pulp, pissed on and then tied to the bumper of the #358 bus and dragged naked and screaming up down Aurora Avenue. Now, while a lot of people might think that advocating such a fate for you is indefensibly hateful it's actually OK because it's part of an ironic in-joke between me and all of the other people who think you're a fucking idiot.

wench@31

Anyone else get goosebumps when Kirsty gets to the line about "...well, so could anyone"?

That part of the song has bought a tear to my eye more than once, Kirsty MacColl put more emotion into that one stanza than some singers put out in their entire careers.

BBC Backs Down, Fairytale Comes Back...

http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3263518.ece

Among other things, this article gives an interesting little factoid that "faggot" also can refer to a meatball dish popular in the West Midlands. Go figure.

Semi-interesting article on the Brit PoV of the whole controversy, for those who are interested:

http://www.popjustice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2021&Itemid=206