Gareth Calway - Bard On The Wire: New York

Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts

December 23, 2025

A Fairy Tale of New York

A much punkier and lost Irish dream take on Christmas than the Leninist laments we grew up with - from the Pogues from 1987. The title is taken from a novel by Irish author JP Donleavy. The song narrates the story of an Irish couple striving to pursue their dreams in New York. Set on Christmas Eve, the eternal romance and hope of Christmas contrasts with the gritty reality but both are given full whack by the song.

It was Christmas Eve, babe

In the drunk tank

An old man said to me

"Won't see another one"

And then he sang a song

"The Rare Old Mountain Dew"

I turned my face away

And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one

Came in eighteen-to-one

I've got a feeling

This year's for me and you

So happy Christmas

I love you, baby

I can see a better time

When all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars, they've got rivers of gold

But the wind goes right through you, it's no place for the old

When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve

You promised me Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome, you were pretty, queen of New York City

When the band finished playing, they howled out for more

Sinatra was swinging, all the drunks, they were singing

We kissed on a corner, then danced through the night

And the boys of the NYPD choir were singing "Galway Bay"

And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day

You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk

Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed

You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap, lousy wazzack

Happy Christmas, your arse, I pray God it's our last

And the boys of the NYPD choir, still singing "Galway Bay"

And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day

"I could have been someone", well, so could anyone

You took my dreams from me when I first found you

I kept them with me, babe, I put them with my own

Can't make it all alone, I've built my dreams around you

And the boys of the NYPD choir, still singing "Galway Bay"

And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day

October 08, 2024

walk on the wild side full band version

The original film https://youtu.be/g_Fp0EceMpA was just the two live takes - guitar and vocal and the bass track - filmed consecutively and then spliced together. Those two live takes remain the basis of this performance but the full band, including Maz on the vocal chorus, is now overdubbed onto the sound of the original film. So you get the satisfaction of the immediacy plus the extra textures of the various overdubs. This whole thing wasn't planned- we heard an interview with Herbie Flowers who created the unique bass part on the original Transformer track (and also played tuba elsewhere on that beautifully soft touch album) and just wanted to see how he did it and how much of it we could pull off in our own way. It happened quite quickly at first but then a little slower as we kept hearing more stuff on the Lou Reed track that we wanted to recreate as a Peacock Tale.

September 20, 2024

Walk on the Wild Side

Holly came from Miami, FLAHitch-hiked her way across the USAPlucked her eyebrows along the wayShaved her legs and then he was a she

They said, "Hey, babeTake a walk on the wild side"I said, "Hey, babeTake a walk on the wild side"Alright

Candy came from out on the IslandIn the back room she was everybody's darlingBut she never once lost her headEven when she was giving head

She said, "Hey, babeTake a walk on the wild side"I said, "Hey, CandyTake a walk on the wild side"And the colored girls go

"Doo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-dooDoo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-dooDoo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-dooDoo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-doo

Doo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-dooDoo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-dooDoo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-dooDoo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-doo"

Little Joe never once gave it awayEverybody had to pay and payA hustle here and a hustle thereNew York City's the place

Where you said, "Hey, JoeTake a walk on the wild side"I said, "Hey, babyTake a walk on the wild side"

Sugar Plum Fairy came down and hit the streetsLooking for soul food and for a place to eatWent to the ApolloYou should've seen them go, go, go

They said, "Hey, sugarTake a walk on the wild side"I said, "Hey, babeTake a walk on the wild side"AlrightHuh

Jackie, she is just speeding awayShe thought she was James Dean for a dayBut then you know that she had to crashValium would have helped that bash

She said, "Hey, JackieTake a walk on the wild side"I said, "Hey, babeTake a walk on the wild side"And the colored girls go