Fairytale Of New York fails in Christmas number one chart battle

The Pogues’ signature track Fairytale Of New York has fallen short of hitting the Christmas number one slot in Ireland.

The track, which hit number one following the death of MacGowan in late November, failed to climb back to the top of the charts with TikTok sensation Noah Kahan claiming the crown this year with his track Stick Season.

Fairytale Of New York was re-released on vinyl last week, which gave the track an advantage over Kahan as under Irish chart rules, physical sales of tracks still majorly outweigh tracks that are downloaded or streamed.

However, the viral momentum behind Kahan gave him the number one slot for Christmas.

The track was the Irish Christmas number one in 1987, but stalled at number two in the United Kingdom behind the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of Always On My Mind.

Fairytale Of New York has consistently charted within the top 10 since the streaming era began.

There is every chance the song might hit number one next week for the week ending December 29th, as it will compile all of the streaming and chart data from Christmas week itself, but by virture of it not being number one on the chart published before Christmas, it will have to contend with the number two slot.

The vinyl re-release will benefit the Dublin Simon Community, with €6.50 of the sales from every vinyl sale going towards the charity.

Emma Kilkenny, head of fundraising and communications at Dublin Simon Community said “we would like to say a huge thank you to The Pogues and Shane McGowan’s family for their generosity in creating such a special legacy for Dublin Simon Community with this release.”

“Music is an emotional and visceral gift that can lift spirits and bring hope to people at their lowest point. We share the truly magical memory of Shane’s performance at the very special Christmas Busk recorded in St Patrick’s Cathedral during Covid-19 lockdown.”

MacGowan and his wife Victoria Mary Clarke were noted patrons of the Dublin Simon Community over the years, taking part in the Christmas Eve Busk for the charity for a number of years.

“The Christmas Eve Busk is a beating heart at the core of Dublin Simon’s fundraising and Shane was always a very welcome and truly amazing addition to this special event,” Kilkenny said.

Dublin Simon Community said  “Shane McGowan was amongst those amazing busk veterans who supported this event by lending his talents and voice to the chorus for change for people experiencing homelessness.”