BBC Radio 1 has caused quite a stir by censoring the word “faggot” out of a song for radio play. No big, right? Radio does this all the time. Well, not usually on a song that’s already 20 years old and they’ve played every Christmas for those 20 years. Yes, Kirsty MacCol’s Christmas single, “Fairytale of New York,” which takes place in a drunk tank, hence the offensive terms from the characters in said song, has been censored on BBC Radio 1, for fear of offending homosexuals. Everyone pretty much thinks it’s crazypants, especially Kirsty’s mother: (From the Independent)
“It’s absolute nonsense. Really, this is too ridiculous.”
Mrs MacColl said the offending phrase was spoken by the character MacColl was playing in the song.
“Shane has written the most beautiful song and these characters live, they really live, and you have such sympathy for them.
“These are a couple of characters who are not in the first flush of youth, I wouldn’t have thought. They are what they are, this is the way they speak.
“Today we have a lot of gratuitous vulgarity and f****** and whatever from people all over, which I think is quite unnecessary. But these are characters and they speak like that.
“It’s like a play and it’s very amusing and sad, and it’s a great song.”
(In case you were wondering, the line being censored is “You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap, lousy faggot.”)
Over at the Guardian, Alex Needham chimes in:
Most importantly, to focus on the word “faggot” is to do an injustice to the spirit of the song. As the millions of people who’ve made it a standard know, Fairytale of New York is an anthem for those left outside capitalism’s magic circle - the gamblers, losers, scumbags, maggots and cheap, lousy faggots spending Christmas Eve on the streets or in hospital rather than tucked up in front of the TV with their family and a mince pie. The point of the song is that even in the most degraded of situations, people can find redemption in love, and if that makes the song sentimental (and remember it’s called a fairytale) it is also the reason why it still moves people every December.
In the real world, the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl were hardly renowned for their homophobic ways - she covered Cole Porter and Noel Coward for the Red, Hot and Blue Aids charity while Shane MacGowan still hangs around with a marvellously epicene butler. The Pogues also presented gays with a big Christmas present in the video - a cameo role from Matt Dillon, who in 1987 was at the height of his considerable beauty. Radio 1 should reinstate the “faggot”. If it’s that fussed about offending gays, why is Chris Moyles still hosting the breakfast show?
ETA: To quote the Guardian once more: “Since this story was published earlier today, Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt has reversed the decision to censor the song Fairytale in New York. In a statement released tonight, Parfitt said: “After careful consideration, I have decided that the decision to edit the Pogues song was wrong.” So there you have it, “faggot” is back in.” Hooray for the angry mob.
