Cassilis

Not sure how unusual I am in this respect but my morning listening usually consists of switching between Radio 4’s Today programme and Chris Moyles on Radio 1 depending on which of them is the least annoying at that particular time (often a close run thing). But Humphries and Co. must have had the upper hand recently because until this morning I was unaware of the row over the Radio 1 censorship u-turn on the Pogues / Kirsty MacColl song ‘Fairytale of New York’. Peter Tatchell has joined the fray this morning and as far as he’s concerned this is straightforward hypocrisy since presumably the station wouldn’t tolerate openly racist or religiously bigoted language:

“…the crunch issue is double-standards. I challenge those who defend the use of the word faggot in these lyrics to state publicly that they would also defend the right of white singers to use the n-word as a term of abuse in a song. They won't and that makes them cowardly homophobic hypocrites.”

There’s much to admire in Tatchell and on most issues I agree with him but I think he’s got this wrong. Anyone familiar with the song knows that the lyrics are a ‘call & response’ type narrative between two (presumably) drunk lovers on Christmas Eve in New York – it shifts effortlessly between syrupy reminisces of Christmas’ past and bilious denunciations of each others character. Most of it is written as direct speech and the offending part is:

MacGowan:
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

MacColl:
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

Tatchell points out the word ‘faggot’ is intended to be abusive and insulting but he’s ignoring the wider context of the song. It’s relaying a dialogue between two people, most likely drunk and between whom there’s obviously more than a little animosity. That verse serves to illustrate the hostility that can exist between people who are / were in love – and the whole song is about how transitory both good and bad feelings can be. A few lines before those quoted above the protagonists are complimenting each other and expressing undying love. What’s more I don’t believe there’s anyone who isn’t aware of this context and so the idea that ‘faggot’ could be taken as abusive or insulting in any general sense is just nonsense.

I’m quite happy to answer Tatchell’s challenge and ‘defend the right of white singers to use the n-word as a term of abuse in a song’ – Bob Dylan in ‘Hurricane’:

All of Rubin’s cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin’s witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger.
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The DA said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.

The point here is that context has to matter and blanket bans that ignore context or motive actually serve to antagonise decent, honourable people. The contrast between Shane McGowan's lyric here and some of the overt homophobia you find elsewhere (Beenie Man etc.) couldn't be starker and I only hope there isn't some proxy agenda here given McGowan's Catholic / Irish background. Final word - 'Fairytale of New York' also contains one of my favourite lyrics, less controversial than any of the above but wonderfully acerbic, particularly with the sadly missed Kirsty MacColl's delivery:

MacGowan: I could have been someone
MacColl: Well so could anyone...