Musical Monday: The Pogues

In seventeen days I will finally get to see the Pogues play live.  If you are unfamiliar with the band, they are the best Irish rock band of all time, fronted by the ugliest front man of all time. And I will finally see them live.  And it will be on St. Patrick’s Day.

The Pogues career has followed a drunken trajectory, and at the height of the band’s international success, lead singer Shane MacGowan’s alcohol-induced inability to show up at his own concerts forced the band to kick him out. While the Pogues limped through several more albums and Shane started his own band (Shane MacGowan and the Popes), neither would have much success without the other.

10 years pass and they reunite.  Have another shot, Shane… a bird never flew on just one wing.

Since 2001, the Pogues have occasionally been on tour, and I have consistently missed out on seeing them.  Not this time.  Perhaps I paid too much.  Perhaps the gamble won’t pay off (more on that next week).  But I will be there.

This is the first Pogues song I ever heard, and it is still the greatest.