A tribute to Shane MacGowan

Rebecca Martin pays tribute to Irish musician, Shane MacGowan.

Rebecca Martin
15th January 2025
November 30th 2024 marks one year since Irish legend Shane MacGowan passed away. MacGowan (born Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan), who emerged from the London punk rock scene but found success due to his fusion with traditional Irish folk, left behind a lengthy but beautiful discography which detailed life as an Irish, working class immigrant. 

Born Christmas Day 1957 in Kent, England, MacGowan was regarded as a remarkable child, consuming literature from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Fyodor Dostoevsky at the shy age of 12. Close friends and family recalled him as a loving character and naturally clever. 

“Because he was the Christmas baby, the matron, the doctors, the nurses, the mayor actually, came to give him gifts,” his mother Therese later recalled. “And he was photographed and hung up on the wall in the hospital – a sign of things to come.” - The Irish Times 

Best known for his work with The Pogues, MacGowan found much success with lyrics that hit close to the disenfranchised Irish. He centred his work around his own experiences of the Irish diaspora and navigating this during 1970s/80s Troubles Britain, and was influenced by many Irish poets such as the famous Brendan Behan and this was reflected surely in his work and words. MacGowan would also not shy away from further political comment with the controversial Pogues track ‘Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six’ in which MacGowan provided his commentary on the Birmingham pub bombings and the subsequent wrongful arrest of six men from Northern Ireland - the song was banned on commercial television and radio but MacGowan was staying undoubtedly true to his roots. 

Following his dismissal from The Pogues due to his heavy alcohol and drug use, MacGowan embarked on another adventure, Shane MacGowan and the Popes. The Popes saw a continuation of MacGowan’s innate punk rock values and 1994 debut album The Snake, and whilst portraying MacGowan at his most raspy, it is truly a testament to the depth of MacGowan’s lyrical genius and his ability to encapsulate every emotion to a tee. 

As news spread of MacGowan’s passing, tributes flooded in from likeminded musicians. Tim Burgess of The Charlatans regarded him as "an inspiration to so many of us who wanted to be in bands". Nick Cave did the honour of performing ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ at his funeral in Tipperary, Ireland. There was immense love shown for the late singer and a withheld acknowledgement of the original thinking and musical genius that was Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan. 

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