Shane MacGowan Responds to Accusations of 'Fairytale of New York' Being Homophobic

Rock fans all know the classic Christmas tune "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues, but in more recent years, the track has raised some eyebrows due to its lyrics. The band was famously fronted by Shane MacGowan.

With the homophobic slur "f****t" included in the track, most radio stations are forced to play an edited version of the song, with many people choosing to simply skip the whole thing. Now, according to the Mirror, MacGowan is defending their choice of words. On Ireland's The Late Late Show, the 61-year-old musician stated:

"I've been told it's insulting to gays; I don't understand how that works. Nobody in the band thinks that's worth a second's thought," adding that, "The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate."

It's certainly that time of year to debate whether or not the song should be retired, and we surely know MacGowan's take.