Lyric Change - Fairytale Of New York

[Cloverjo]

Just heard this song on Magic FM and the line ‘You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy f a g g o t’ was changed to ‘.... you’re cheap and you’re haggard’

I’ve read that some radio stations are not playing the song because that line is “offensive to homosexuals”. Ok don’t play it. No need to announce it.
But changing the words? No!

Have any gay people actually been offended? The man referred to in the song is not gay anyway, so what’s that all about?

[ummmm]

I know, daft isn't it.

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps they feel the artiste should have asked their butcher for a better quality faggot.

[ummmm]

Exactly!

[nescio]

The song was first released in November 1987. Faggot had the same meanings then as now. How come it has taken over 32 years for it now to be deemed offensive?

[Apc2604]

This is just so wrong. I saw and heard Shane talking about it on TV. He said those words represented the row between the two lovers in the song and it wastrue to life. She was angry! It's my favourite Christmas song! They should leave it alone. It makes me so cross. Our gay friends and family would not be offended.

[Lie-in King]

Not the first time this has come up - from last year -

https://tinyurl.com/v2sybxd

[wolf63]

Here's another version

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/fairytale-new-york-gets-west-17442007?fbclid=IwAR1-SIJjf89H70dI5OX_aqbuGQlAmWjnYgsXs353jcrqJRtNLihsw360bSs

[Peter Pedant]

// Have any gay people actually been offended? //

no I dont think so, they have a broad back and can take some beating !
pun intended

[ummmm]

In bad taste.

[tiggerblue10]

It is a shame it has come to this.

Just out of interest, in what context was f a g g o t originally meant as a derogatory term, as in 'cheap, lousy ........'? Or was it just to rhythm with maggot?

[Cloverjo]

I think it was just a convenient rhyme for maggot. No offence intended by MacGowan.

[jno]

it was an insulting term when the song was recorded, but a much more specific one than "scumbag", whether that was intended or not. And I believe it's even more insulting now.

I don't mind changes to lyrics; who still sings the bit in God Save the Queen about crushing the Scots? And I'm relieved I learnt "Eeny Meeny Miny Mo, catch a tiger by the toe" rather than the original version.

[Ellipsis]

Choose a radio station that plays the original.

[tonyav]

I haven't heard it with the changed lyric yet. Mind you I don't particularly want to hear it at all ( my least favorite Christmas song ).

[Unsureme]

My Grandson's school changed the story of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves to Ali Baba and the 40 Bandits. ludicrous.

[JimF]

Presumably, this is the godawful cover by Ronan Keating, not the original...

[douglas9401]

I wonder if there are any gurls in the NYPD choir these days. :-)

[JimF]

Has the NYPD got a choir now? They never used to, and certainly didn't in 1987!

[Barmaid]

Jeez. Do these idiots not get the point of it. I wish snowflakes would stop this nonsense. It's like Guy Gibson's dog in the Dambusters. Nonsense.

[THECORBYLOON]

From Wiki, "During a live performance on Top of the Pops in January 1992, MacColl changed the lyrics further, singing "You're cheap and you're haggard". 

That shows it was changed decades ago.