The Daily Deep Cut

The editors at JamsBio like to think of ourselves as music fans first, not critics, and that’s the sensibility we strive for at JamsBio and that we seek in other sites as well. That’s why we’re so jazzed about Damn Fine Day, a site that each day profiles a deep album cut that’s been overlooked, but deserves a place in everybody’s collection. In the name of spreading the gospel about great music, we present “The Daily Deep Cut,” where we add our two cents about the songs featured on Damn Fine Day. Once you read our unique take, we’ll send you over to Damn Fine Day so you can stream the full track and download it if you like. Sometimes we might even suggest another deep track from the same album or present some other novel twist on what their hawking.

It’s the day before St. Patty’s and the perfect time to highlight the band that gave new life to traditional Irish music: The Pogues. Fronted by the drunken poet, Shane MacGowan, and backed by a motley crew of U.K. musicians, the Pogues burst onto the post-punk scene with a wildly (and completely wild) brand of punk-fueled Irish songs about drinking and revelry. Although the Pogues have made their name as the ultimate party band, the raucous music deserves a closer listen, because MacGowan’s talent as a lyricist is unrivaled among his peers. There’s no better place to start taking in his brilliance than on the Pogues’ most enduring (and most popular) album, If I Should Fall from Grace with God.

While the title track is an undeniable gem (and today’s Damn Fine Day pick), I’ve always loved MacGowan’s two amazing ballads to his adopted home town of London: “Lullaby of London” (from If I Should Fall From Grace) and “London You’re a Lady” (from 1989’s Peace and Love). Drink in the genius below with lyrical excerpts and the audio of each track, and then head over to Damn Fine Day and do jig for St. Patrick to the boisterous strains of “If I Should Fall from Grace with God.”

As I walked on with a heavy heart
Then a stone danced on the tide
And the song went on
Though the lights were gone
And the North wind gently sighed
And an evening breeze coming from the East
That kissed the riverside
So I pray now child that you sleep tonight
When you hear this lullaby

“Lullaby of London” by The Pogues (from If I Should Fall From Grace With God, 1988)

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Your piss is like a river
Its scent is beer and gin
Your hell is in the summer
And you blossom in the spring
September is your purgatory
Christmas is your heaven
And when the stinking streets of summer
Are washed away by rain
At the dark end of a lonely street
That’s where you lose your pain
‘Tis then your eyes light up my love
And sparkle once again

“London You’re A Lady” by The Pogues (from Peace and Love, 1989)

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