Fairytale of New York Lyrics and Chords

Greatest Christmas song ever? ~ How it was written ~ Painful birth of classic ~ Shane as Sinatra
Producer Steve Lillywhite ~ Kirsty MacColl vocals ~ Kirsty MacColl stage fright
Unofficial NYPD choir ~ Lure of Big Apple ~ Not just for the Irish ~ Alternative Christmas
Most played Christmas song ~ Lyrics censored ~ The video ~ Lyrics and chords

The first draft of the lyrics to Fairytale of New York was written by Jem Finer of the Pogues. The words were then refined several times by both Finer and Shane MacGowan before they emerged as the version of the song we know today.

The chords are presented here in the key of D Major, the key used by the Pogues on their classic recording featuring Kirsty Mccoll in1987.

Lyrics and Chords

It was Christmas

D

Eve babe, in the

G

drunk

tank

An old man

D

said to me, won’t

G

see

A

another

one

And then he

D

sang a song

The Rare Old

G

Mountain Dew and I turned my

D

face

away

And

G

dreamed

A

about

D

you

A

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Got on a

D

lucky one Came in eigh

G

teen to one

I’ve got a

D

feeling This

G

year’s for

A

you and me

So happy

D

Christmas, I love you

G

baby

I can see a

D

better time When

G

all our

A

dreams come

D

true

A

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’ve got

D

cars,

Big as

A

bars

They’ve got

Bm

rivers of

G

gold

But the

D

wind goes right through you

It’s no place for the

A

old

When you

D

first took my

Bm

hand

On a

D

cold Christmas

G

Eve

You

D

promised

me

Broadway was

A

waiting for

D

me

You were

D

handsome – You were pretty

Queen of New York

A

City

When the

D

band finished

G

playing

They

A

howled out for

D

more, Sinatra was swinging

All the drunks they were

A

singing

We

D

kissed on the

G

corner

And

A

danced through the

D

night

The

G

boys of the NY

Bm

PD

A

choir

Were

D

singing Galway

Bm

Bay

And the

D

bells were

G

ringing

A

Out for Christmas

D

day

A

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

D

You’re a bum – You’re a punk

You’re an old slut on

A

junk

Lying

D

there almost

G

dead on a

A

drip

In that

D

bed

You scum bag – You maggot

You cheap lousy

A

faggot

Happy

D

Christmas your

G

arse

I pray

A

God

It’s our

D

last

The

G

boys of the NY

Bm

PD

A

choir

Were

D

singing Galway

Bm

Bay

And the

D

bells were

G

ringing

A

Out for Christmas

D

day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A

I could have

D

been

someone

Well, So could

G

anyone

You took my

D

dreams

From me when I first

A

found

you

I kept them

D

with me babe

I put them

G

with my own

Can’t make it

D

all

alone

I’ve built my

G

dreams

A

around

D

you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The

G

boys of the NY

Bm

PD

A

choir

Still

D

singing Galway

Bm

Bay

And the

D

bells were

G

ringing

A

Out for Christmas

D

day

The Pogues had originally written the song in the key of C Major. But shortly before recording they changed to D Major. Guitarist Phil Chevron said that might seem like a small change but the band felt that it gave the song an extra energy.

Greatest Christmas song ever? ~ How it was written ~ Painful birth of classic ~ Shane as Sinatra
Producer Steve Lillywhite ~ Kirsty MacColl vocals ~ Kirsty MacColl stage fright
Unofficial NYPD choir ~ Lure of Big Apple ~ Not just for the Irish ~ Alternative Christmas
Most played Christmas song ~ Lyrics censored ~ The video ~ Lyrics and chords

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