Skip to main content

Al compas del mundo - programa #106 - Homage to Sean MacGowan, leader of The Pogues, Ireland – rest in peace

As one wag noted: “It’s a miracle he lasted this long.” Sean MacGowan, chief maniac and driving spirit of The Pogues is no more. At age 65 his body and brain had had enough. Years of alcohol abuse and then a heroin habit exacted their retribution despite having cleaned up in later years. Though not before he wrote and sang any number of deepfelt paeans dedicated to the themes he believed in: unbridled hedonism; liberty for an Irish republic; the winsome smirk of an unbridledly hedonistic lassy; and the glorious history of ol’ Ireland, even when it wasn’t so glorious. I’ve not read whether he uttered any profound last words or raised a fist in heroic gesture. I’m confident, though, that he reached out for The Church’s blessing on his death bed. Unlike John Paul Sartre who converted to Catholicism in the parting moments of his life (hedging his bets…does that count?), Sean was a life-long believer, surprisingly enough. MacGowan gave us the good counsel that when choosing between a philosopher and a musician, always opt for the one that had the most fun. Sean MacGowan lived a life.

This is taken from a report in The Catholic Herald.

“…the funeral of Shane MacGowan, recently departed singer, songwriter and much beloved Irish balladeer, felt so familiar. Because it was so much like a wake. More wake than funeral. There was singing and dancing, great merriment, and eulogies till the cows come home. Parish Priest of Nenagh in the Diocese of Killaloe, Fr Pat Gilbert, talked of the ‘poet, lyricist, singer, trailblazer’ repeatedly in his homily, and how the recently deceased ‘connected the cultural, the sociological, the spiritual, the physical and the metaphysical into a coherent translation of what was happening all around us’. This may have been somewhat hyperbolic, but it is also part of the tradition in Ireland to exaggerate the positives and forget the flaws as we send the departed to their final resting place.” - J.H.

Runlist for Homage to Sean MacGowan, leader of The Pogues, Ireland – Rest in Peace -
First broadcast 12-14-23
.

01 If I Should Fall from Grace with God

02 Boys from the County Hell

03 Poor Paddy

04 Young Ned of the Hill

05 The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn

06 Sea Shanty

07 Fairytale of New York

08 White City

09 Dark Streets of London

10 Streets of Sorrow - Birmingham Six

11 Transmetropolitan

12 Greenland Whale Fisheries

13 Misty Morning, Albert Bridge

14 Waxie's Dargle

15 Thousands Are Sailing

16 Streams of Whiskey

17 Sally MacLennane

18 The Parting Glass

A funeral element that touched me especially was Spider Spacy’s singing of Parting Glass, the last bit in this list. You wont find a song more heartfelt. The Pogues were a messenger for me. Opened up vistas. We made a wake of the funeral, mostly because we were already at another Irishman's funeral here. The air is filled with the songs. The past is being removed by the new. But the past is never dead [as Faulkner said] – “It’s not even past.”- J.V. 

Closing with words of aspirational: Recalling the great Irish poet Shane MacGowan's words:

 

Been in a palace, I've been in a jail

I just don't want to be reborn a snail

I just want to spend eternity

Right where I am, on the Sunnyside of the Street.



 ~&^%~

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

British Invasion - 1960s

I wanted to declare “Kick out the jams, mo’fos!” as a signpost towards the message in this week’s Al compás del mundo radio show, but that actually came about a little later. As humanity descended ever deeper into the Cro-Magnon state, Iggy Pop and the punks claimed that honor. What we have here instead, is a post-WWII let’s shake up the political order a bit, and no, not everyone has signed up to be an unconscious consumer attitude. There’s something afoot with these lads. Not exactly revolutionary fervor, but most certainly promoting a change in the general way of things. Recalling Che Guevara’s famous quote “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”, the Animals, Yardbirds, Rolling Stones et. al. pouted and preened – some more than others – in a way that hadn’t quite been done before. Youthful vigor ensued. These groups pushed the evolutionary chain of popular music a step further and we’re all better off for it.  Set list Al compás del mundo programa #183, 6-5-25 - The British Invasion, 1960s 01 Yar...

Funk and Soul

  Al compás del mundo - programa #169, 2-27-25, Funk and Soul   01 The Commodores - Brick House 02 Tower of Power - Drop It In The Slot 03 Parliament - Ride On 04 Sly & The Family Stone – Frisky 05 The Webb People – I’m Sending Vibrations 06 Ruby Delicious - Rock Steady 07 Mandrill - Git It All 08 The San Francisco TKOS – Herm 09 Ohio Players - Fire 10 Parliament - Mothership Connection (Star Child) 11 Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie 12 Chico and Buddy - A Thing Call the Jones 13 Little Ann – Possession 14 Lafayette Afro-Rock Band - Time Will Tell 15 Parliament - Ain't Nuthin' But a Jam Y'all   What did James Brown mean when he said “we’re gonna have a funky good time”? This “funky” of which he spoke, was it strictly musical (and danceable), or maybe sexual, sociable, or even political? Or maybe a little bit of each? Funk, funky, funkify, funkadelic, funkalicious…all pointing at the pleasure principle…a new dialect for the “blue...

Nuyorican boogaloo cha-cha-cha

 I’m labelling this week’s playlist as “Nuyorican” music, the lion’s share of the players from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican ancestry.  Two notable exceptions are Joe Bataan, a Filipino-African American, and Mongo Santamaria born in Cuba. What they all have in common, however, was centered around the music scene of New York City where African American and Latino musicians forged a common ground in creating “boogaloo” dance music, mixing elements of R&B, Soul, and Latin dance rhythms. The boogaloo genre was fairly short-lived, enjoying popularity during the 1960’s before giving way to salsa, in what was largely an East Coast and Caribbean impulse. “Watermelon Man” and ”El Watusi” were early and major boogaloo hits, but truly, most of the titles included in the program were popular recordings in their day, whether cha-cha-chas like Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va”, or GFyEN’s guajira. I’ve gathered them here for an hour’s worth of revelation for those too young to have heard thi...