At a book signing last year I asked James Fearnley if as a writer in The Pogues he felt intimidated by Shane MacGowan. His memoir Here Comes Everyone is a vivid retelling of life with the Pogues and their bibulous singer and principal songwriter. Whether Phil Chevron felt a similar burden from comparison with MacGowan I don't know, but after recording Thousands Are Sailing I hope he felt the equal of his more celebrated bandmate.
Seeing the Pogues live half a dozen times in the last 25 years, 'Thousands' was always special, even when it was MacGowan, lyric sheet in hand, who was slurring the lyrics if Chevron was too ill to appear. A yearning tribute to the Irish diaspora and their new lives in America, the song is moving but unsentimental, especially when MacGowan was extemporising the lyrics: 'In Brendan Behan's footsteps, I spewed up and down the street'.
So I'm sad to hear of Phil Chevron's death today, and I'm playing If I Should Fall From Grace With God, remembering the gigs and the beery Brixton chorus, Thousands Are Sailing:
No comments:
Post a Comment