I like the albums, on their own. And no, I haven't looked at the lyrics in many years.

IrishRover wrote:

theCOOP wrote:In absolutely no way however, do Snake or CoG stand up to Shane's "Pogues" recordings/lyrics. "I'll be your handbag"? "I mighta fucked your missus, but I never fucked your daughter" as much fun as it is to blare out the car window, it looks like a mid-life crisis to me.

Couldn't agree with this statement at all...Donegal Express is a great song

It absolutely is and lest we forget started it's incarnation as a Pogues song as did quite a few of Shane's solo songs. So the argument our good friend is making here doesn't make sense based on that or the fact that The Snake with Eyes of Garnet's lyrics rank among Shane's best. I'm not putting you down mate, just curious if you've actually looked at these lyrics.

theCOOP wrote:In absolutely no way however, do Snake or CoG stand up to Shane's "Pogues" recordings/lyrics. "I'll be your handbag"? "I mighta fucked your missus, but I never fucked your daughter" as much fun as it is to blare out the car window, it looks like a mid-life crisis to me.

Couldn't agree with this statement at all...Donegal Express is a great song

I too prefer The Snake. Like someone else already mentioned, most of us had no idea what was going on with Shane when it materialised on music store shelves.

The only prior indication AFAIK that he was still alive was on the Jesus & Mary Chain album Stoned & Dethroned (God Help Me...through this day), which was a brilliant recording. I bought the CD for a video I saw from it. And I was listening, and this voice came on...who is that? Sounds familiar. So I grab the liner notes and holy fuck! It's Shane MacGowan..."the guy from the pogues".

So yeah, when Snake came out it was a big relief. I was just shopping in the music store, and came across it on the new-release rack. I couldn't believe it.

CoG in my opinion, is weird. "Rock and Roll Paddy" and a few others songs...are just weird IMO. However it does have some very redeeming moments.

(for the record, I love WfH and PM), but I'd take either of these two albums over CoG any day.

In absolutely no way however, do Snake or CoG stand up to Shane's "Pogues" recordings/lyrics. "I'll be your handbag"? "I mighta fucked your missus, but I never fucked your daughter" as much fun as it is to blare out the car window, it looks like a mid-life crisis to me.

But, I'm a Shane/Pogues fan. I'll listen to it all.

Coop

In the other hand "I'll be your handbag" is probably the worst song Macgowan ever released.

I love I'll Be Your Handbag. It's just a great punk song- "every little breeze seems to whisper disease" - love that line. The Snake is a very diverse album and an excellent album at that. I love Crock and The Snake equally. They both have their merits.
Edit/Delete this post

GUEST wrote:The Crock was far to easy for Shane,im sure he came up with the lyrics for most songs in no time.The Snake is a much more diverse album with more character and guts.
Dont get me wrong i love both.But i think Crock is a paddybeat album that lacks the touch of genius that is Shane MacGowan.

I hear you. While I love Crock the lyrics aren't even close to Shane's best. Let's be honest here. And again, I love the album. It was mainly funny Irish songs except for one like Paddy Public Enemy #1. That song's lyrics are very average for a genius like Shane.

For me the 2 songs on Crock that can stand beside his best work are Lonesome Highway & St. John of Gods.

The Crock was far to easy for Shane,im sure he came up with the lyrics for most songs in no time.The Snake is a much more diverse album with more character and guts.
Dont get me wrong i love both.But i think Crock is a paddybeat album that lacks the touch of genius that is Shane MacGowan.

The Song With No Name is an incredible song and lyric thats often overlooked. Perhaps it's the recording and how it comes across. One of his best solo songs in my opinion though.

probably crock...though theres greatness on each of them

If I should fall...no, missed again.
If I should compare the songs, I would opt for Crock. But the performance is crucial imho. And songs on Crock sound rather tired and not very interesting.
There is a lot of tracks I dislike on the Snake (but some great as well) and a lot of semi-good tracks on Crock.
I like the Snake far more as it sounds more fresh and those bad ones...you can skip them.

I like Crock of gold more...there are some amazing songs there,but truly great !!!

it's gotta be the snake for me although i do like crock of gold also

Definitely the snake. Crock of Gold has far too many re-workings of old songs and borrowed melodies. The Snake has some superb songs on like Donegal Express, Aisling, and Snake With Eyes of Garnet to name a few

I love them bouth. But the snake is my favorite i think i played it very day for 3 years until crock of gold came out. love the punk style on the snake i'll be your handbag ,Victoria church of the holy spook,aisling,snake with eyes of garnet pure class

Gotta be the snake!!!

'Long years ago I fell in love with a lady proud and fair...'.

Its just... well, I cried my eyes out listening to that. My ol' fella was killed on a building site last year and it reminded me of him. He loved me mum but he was torn too (when we were young) between her and the music n' beer.

Peace y'all xxx n' up the workers

I have to say that I actually like the snake more than the crock... The first three songs on the snake are the ultimate opening to an album..(in all fairness the fiorst three on crock are pretty damn good too) but at the end of the day, I prefer the snake as it sounds more diverse and less confined then the snake does, sorta the same reason why peace and love has become one of my favorite pogues albums.


scott