"Fairytale" censored

[Si Hunt]

The BBC has decided to censor the lyrics in a song by The Pogues to avoid upsetting the gay community.

The word "faggot" has been cut from the line "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap, lousy faggot" from their Christmas hit 'Fairytale Of New York'.

The ban on the word will be placed across all BBC radio stations because bosses believe it "might cause offence".

The song was a hit for The Pogues and the late Kirsty MacColl when it was originally released 20 years ago. It was also voted the best Christmas song of all time in a recent poll by VH1.

DJ Chris Moyles is campaigning for 'Fairytale Of New York' to get to number one in the charts when it is re-released.

Is this political correctness gone mad? Or is it reasonable?

Above all else, isn't a little bit LATE?

Si.

[Rob McCow]

The ban on the word will be placed across all BBC radio stations because bosses believe it "might cause offence".

I'm completely offended.

Offended by this crass and cowardly decision. Really, they should have found out if anyone gave a pair-of-QVC-earrings first. What rot.

[Si Hunt]

Jean Newlove-MacColl isn't thrilled!

BBC Radio 1 has said it will stand by its ban on the word "faggot" from the Pogues' 1987 Christmas hit Fairytale of New York to avoid offence.

The word, sung by the late Kirsty MacColl as she trades insults with Shane MacGowan, has been dubbed out.

But MacColl's mother, Jean, called the ban "too ridiculous", while the Pogues said they found it "amusing".

The BBC said: "We are playing an edited version because some members of the audience might find it offensive."

A Radio 1 spokeswoman said the station's management had met on Tuesday morning to discuss the issue.

She said they "had made their decision" and would not be going back on it.

But the ban does not apply across the BBC. Radio 2 said it would be playing the full version of the track.

MacColl, who was killed by a speedboat off the coast of Mexico in 2000, brands Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan "you scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot" in the song, which reached number two when it was first released.

The song is a duet between MacColl and Shane MacGowan
She continues: "Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last."

Another line, where MacGowan calls MacColl "an old slut on junk", has also been edited.

Jean MacColl told BBC Radio 5 Live's Breakfast: "These are a couple of characters - not in the first flush of youth, I would have thought.

"This is the way they spoke. Today we have a lot of a gratuitous vulgarity and whatever from people all over which I think is quite unnecessary.

"They are what they are. These are characters and they speak like that."

A spokesman for the Pogues, who first formed in 1982 and reunited in 2001 after a five-year break, said they "found it amusing that a song that has been one of the best-loved Christmas tunes should suddenly have been deemed offensive".

Listeners have also been criticising the ban on the Radio 1 Newsbeat website.

Denise Venn said it was "a complete over-reaction" and Simon from Southampton called it "political correctness gone mad".

Dean in Southampton added: "I'm gay and it certainly doesn't offend me.

"I find it more offensive that the BBC has tampered with this track which hopefully will be number one this Christmas."

[Paul Monk]

What madness. It seems that we're all so worried about offending someone these days so we ruin things and offend a far bigger portion of the country!
Have they censored the arse line or is arse now acceptable on radio 1?

[Lissa]

This has to be stopped now. We can see from America that if you create "super words" which have power beyond their meaning or usage, these words will be used by self-serving pressure groups to destroy people. Just because they can. In America, if you use one of the "-words" - those words which can only be alluded to by saying "the n-word" or "the f-word" - you can be destroyed by groups who just love a sacrifice.

In Monty Python's "Life of Brian" you had the richly comic stoning sequence where saying "the J-word" got you pelted with stones. That turns out to be both a satire on the past and a satire on the future.

Stupid and pathetic politically correct pandering by a broadcaster so desperate to retain a demographic is patently doesn't understand can only fuel the demonisation of the word. There are plenty of ways to offend gay people without saying a single offensive word and plenty of ways to use offensive words without ever offending anyone.

Control+F should never be an instrument of social policy.

[SiHart]

for Lissa. That sums this whole issue up beautifully.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Poor Kirsty's been victim to this before - "Free World" had the phrase "shag it" overdubbed with "wag it" in 1991!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

She continues: "Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last."

Another line, where MacGowan calls MacColl "an old slut on junk", has also been edited.

Until now I had now idea what they said in those lines. It sounded to me like 'Happy Christmas you are so pay gore it will last!' and the other line sounded like 'Blah blah blah dialect'.

[Si Hunt]

There you go - thanks to BBC censorship bringing it to our attention, you can now sing the word "Slut!" nice and loudly whenever you hear it.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Can I just ask, am I the only person on PS who doesn't like the song?

[WhiteCrow]

Can't someone tell Radio One to "relax, don't do it"?

Wasn't Kirsty's last hit "I'm not looking out for a speedboat"?

[Paul Monk]

Lissa sums it up beautifully. You can't do around claiming you live in a land of free speech if everything is censored to prevent offending people. That's not free speech. People need to have the capacity to be offended by something if free speech is to exist.

[Captain Tancredi]

To be honest, what I find more offensive is retrospectively censoring the music of somebody who isn't around to either give or refuse their blessing. The record must have been out for the best part of twenty years now and seems to be on practically every Christmas compilation you can buy so it's a little bit late. And if you really want to abuse gay people, there are much more interesting formulations you can use.

[WhiteCrow]

And if you really want to abuse gay people, there are much more interesting formulations you can use.

Quite, a lot of rap songs can have quite violent messages, but they still get played, all be it with just the swear words bleeped out.

[Stuart Wallis]

Can I just ask, am I the only person on PS who doesn't like the song?

You're not, Pip.

As for the retrospective censorship, Si was quite right at the start of the thread, the horse bolted twenty years ago; if someone were majorly offended by the song, they'd have said so by now surely. On the language front, the BBC have been playing Apeman by The Kinks for the best part of forty years now, and have seemingly never, ever noticed the line "the air pollution is f*cking up my eyes."

Go figure.

[Si Hunt]

"I'm not looking out for a speedboat"?

Still too soon for gags like that for me.

Si.

[Captain Tancredi]

The other thing which occurred to me is that the whole song is pretty much based around an Irish stereotype.

[Milky Tears]

Breaking News!

BBC Radio 1 has said it will allow the Pogues' Fairytale of New York to be played on the station uncut, after criticism of a decision to censor it...


Radio 1 backs down in Pogues row

[Si Hunt]

Hahahahahahaaha!

Si.

[Larry]

just when you think the P.C crack pots can't get any crazier they come up with another beauty all I can say is if there is any body who thinks the wods tart and faggot arew offencive they seriously need to get a life.

[Dave Tudor]

Have they censored the arse line or is arse now acceptable on radio 1?

Well, Chris Moyles has had his own show for years, so it must be.

[WhiteCrow]

Don't forget, we're not allowed to sing about wanting a "White Christmas", cos it's too Aryan!

[Jonno]

I don't know if they're still doing it but for the last couple of years now, whenever the likes of VH1 have played the video they always bleeped out the "faggot" line. Well, not bleeped per se, but the sound went mute for that short instant. Odd how the media never picked up on this - though I guess a digital music channel is not on the same scale as a national BBC radio station.

Also, I have a horrendous cover of this on a Christmas CD by Ronan Keating and some Irish woman that I can't recall the name of and it has various sanitised lyrics - truly awful!

[Simon R]

This is all good publicity for the song. If only it could climb to the top of the charts and stop Leon Jackson and has turgid dross.

[WhiteCrow]

Also, I have a horrendous cover of this on a Christmas CD by Ronan Keating

A truely awful song by Ronan Keating - who'd have thunk it!