Fairytale of New York

I was taking a ramble there one day about three years ago

It was the middle of the week I think it was

And I was halfway between Puckaun and Nenagh

I was looking for the Shannon

And I ended up in a mushroom field near Gurthalougha

How are ya?

I stumbled into a fairy ring

Ooh, Jaysus! I couldn't get out

I was there for three days and three nights

Wandering around in circles like a lunatic

I saw a fella come on the road

"Hey, John! Give us a hand to get out of this aul fairy ring"

By Jaysus! He took me by the arm and he led me out onto the road

"Where are you going?" says I

"I don't know," says he

"Jaysus! I'll go there too"

So he took me to Paddy Kennedy's pub in Puckaun, into the snug

Yeah

And he called for a drink

And then I called for a drink

And then he called for another drink

And I called for two drinks

And then we sat down and we had a drink

The aul tongue started to loosen up and the aul thoughts began to flow

By Jaysus! He told me a few of his poems and they were marvelous, after the few drinks

Then I sang a song and he put on the jukebox

And Jaysus! I heard this beautiful song, I'd never heard it before

It was all about a summer say in Siam and a rainy day in Soho

And a pair of brown eyes and a coffin ship sailing across the broad Atlantic foam

The sickbed of Cú Chulainn, ah yeah

And then he went:

It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank

An auld man said, "Son, I won't see another one"

And then he sang a song, The Rare Auld Mountain Dew

I turned my eyes away and I thought about you

Got on a lucky one, came in at eighteen to one

I've got a feeling this year's for me and you

Happy Christmas! How I love you, baby!

There's gonna be good times when all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars

They've got rivers of gold

But the wind blows right through you

It's no place for the old

When I first took your hand on a cold Christmas Eve

Oh I told you that Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome and pretty

Queen of New York City

When the band finished playing, the crowd howled for more

Sinatra was swinging

And all the crowds, they were singing

Oh we kissed in the corner and danced 'round the floor

And the boys from the New York Police choir were singing Galway Bay

And the bells were ringing out on Christmas day

I could have been someone

And so could anyone

I took my dreams from you

When I first met you

I kept them with me, babe

And I put them with my own

I can't make it all alone

I've built my dreams all around you

And you're a bum, you're a punk

You're an aul hoor on junk

Lying there on the drip

Nearly dead in the bed

You scumbag, you maggot

You cheap lousy faggot

Happy Christmas me arse

Oh I'd rather be dead

And the boys from the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay

And the bells were ringing out on Christmas day

How I love you, baby!

I've got a feeling this year's for me and you

Happy Christmas! How I love you, baby!

There's gonna be good times when all our dreams come true

"So happy Christmas! I love you, baby!"

Says Shane MacGowan from Puckaun in the county Tipperary in the snug

And I took him by the hand and I, I gazed into his eyes and I kissed him on the lips

And I said, "Shane, I love you, baby, too"