The BBC has defended its choice to play a censored model of The Pogues‘ ‘Fairytale Of New York’ over the festive interval.
The company introduced final week that it’s going to air another model of the beloved Christmas basic on Radio 1 to keep away from offending youthful listeners with the derogatory phrases that characteristic on the monitor.
However ten days after their preliminary choice, the BBC has been pressured to elucidate their reasoning behind the choice as soon as extra.
In an announcement delivered to Metro, the BBC mentioned: “We all know ‘Fairytale of New York’ is taken into account a Christmas basic and we’ll proceed to play it this 12 months on BBC Radio, with our stations selecting the model of the music most related for his or her viewers.
The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan
“We’re conscious that younger audiences are significantly delicate to derogatory phrases for gender and sexuality, and after contemplating this fastidiously, Radio 1 has determined to play a model that includes Kirsty MacColl singing various lyrics, offered by the document label.”
The controversy surrounding the music focuses on a line sung by the late Kirsty MacColl, together with her and Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan adopting the roles of a warring married couple.
She sings to MacGowan: “You scumbag, you maggot / You low-cost awful f****t / Joyful Christmas, your arse / I pray God it’s our final.”
Radio 1’s edited model will characteristic the road “you’re low-cost and also you’re haggard”, with the phrase “slut” silenced at an earlier level within the verse.
The Pogues additionally lately hit out at Laurence Fox’s criticism of the BBC’s choice, branding the right-wing provocateur a “herronvolk shite”.
‘Fairytale of New York’ beforehand sparked controversy final 12 months after it was banned by BBC Solent presenter Alex Dyke, who instructed on Twitter that the music was “downmarket chav bilge”.
The festive return of Gavin & Stacey also faced a backlash last Christmas after the characters of Bryn and Nessa carried out an uncensored model of the music.