One lyric that always sounded corny to me ...

[just a wally]

I think the worst line has to be "I'm just a wally hanging out on Pattaya Beach". Can you really hear Shane calling anyone a 'wally'?! I've always wondered if the record company suggested they changed it from something else in case the song ever got released as a single.

Who you callin' a "worst line?"

[firehazard]

Maybe a bit late, but I want to put in another vote of support for "friends" in the line from "Dark Streets..."
It's just right. As Mr C says, it sings better than mates, chums, pals or whatever else would scan. And I'm sure back in those days in London I used to have drinking friends down the pub... the ones I wasn't allowed to bring back home.
And there are enough literary/cultural instances of "friend" being used in that slightly distant, noncommittal sense (which I'm sure Shane was aware of...)

[guestov]

I think the line "drink with my friends on hammersmith broadway" isn't meant to be taken like that. I've always thought it was an ironic take on 'friends' as it is clearly a song about down and outs and drunks in London. Therefore to call fellow-drunks 'my friends' is another example of shanes ironic soh.

yes / no?

[philipchevron]

I think the line "drink with my friends on hammersmith broadway" isn't meant to be taken like that. I've always thought it was an ironic take on 'friends' as it is clearly a song about down and outs and drunks in London. Therefore to call fellow-drunks 'my friends' is another example of shanes ironic soh.

yes / no?

I'm going with this one, as it reminds me of the Brendan Behan remark "the compliments pass when the quality meets"

[Paddy Rolling Clone]

I think the line "drink with my friends on hammersmith broadway" isn't meant to be taken like that. I've always thought it was an ironic take on 'friends' as it is clearly a song about down and outs and drunks in London. Therefore to call fellow-drunks 'my friends' is another example of shanes ironic soh.

yes / no?

Think you hit the nail on the head there.

[soulfinger]

I think the line "drink with my friends on hammersmith broadway" isn't meant to be taken like that. I've always thought it was an ironic take on 'friends' as it is clearly a song about down and outs and drunks in London. Therefore to call fellow-drunks 'my friends' is another example of shanes ironic soh.

yes / no?

yes, definitely!

[guestov]

Glad some of you agree with my analysis of DSOL!

Speaking of lyrics and such-like, has any of you ever used words or phrases learned in pogues songs in an everday context?? I regularly use the term 'drilled her up' if a young local lad gets a young local lass pregnant! I also use pisskey quite a bit to describe a particular state of being after spending too long in the bosom of my favourite boozer!!

I dont' have a least favourite line as such, but I think some of the Crock of Gold offerings are a bit on the, erm, patchy side......

[Guest]

Anyway It's sounds alright if you refer to your childhood friends as 'my friends', but sounds a little awkward in the context of reminiscing about drinking buddies.

You mean it sounds a little awkward in Newfoundland!!!!!! It doesn't in the city that the song is about. Inevitably, the phrase has different connatations in Newfoundland in 2005 than it did in London in the early eighties.

A wise man once said about Britain and America: 'We are divided by a common language'

[Paddy Rolling Clone]

Love to hear Dark Streets Of London this time around, one of my favourites.

[DzM]

You mean it sounds a little awkward in Newfoundland!!!!!! It doesn't in the city that the song is about. Inevitably, the phrase has different connatations in Newfoundland in 2005 than it did in London in the early eighties.

A wise man once said about Britain and America: 'We are divided by a common language'

Well yeah. We are indeed seperated by that darned common language.

But what the hell? I never said the quoted material that is attributed to me. I agree with the sentiment, but those aren't my words at all. I can't een find whose words they are.

I'm going to bet money that this is a quote tag gone horribly awry and that Guest was actually replying to Monreith, got the quote tags a bit messed up, and ended up writing their own text such that it appears to be a mis-attributed quote. Yeah.

[cougar]

Anyway It's sounds alright if you refer to your childhood friends as 'my friends', but sounds a little awkward in the context of reminiscing about drinking buddies.

You mean it sounds a little awkward in Newfoundland!!!!!! It doesn't in the city that the song is about. Inevitably, the phrase has different connatations in Newfoundland in 2005 than it did in London in the early eighties.

A wise man once said about Britain and America: 'We are divided by a common language'

Your name isn't William....its Willy

[Guest]

I'm going to bet money that this is a quote tag gone horribly awry and that Guest was actually replying to Monreith, got the quote tags a bit messed up, and ended up writing their own text such that it appears to be a mis-attributed quote. Yeah.

umm yes I think that's what happened!

[John Powers]

Since English isn´t my first language, I´m not sure if get all the different connotations in words like "friends" as opposed to "mates". I can see the difference but I didn´t know that "friends" is what kids use.

Anyway, this line in A Rainy Night in Soho has always sounded a little forced to me:

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means

It´s a great song and the line works fine, but it sounds like he didn´t bother to think of a better lyric and just wrote something...

Are you going to burn me in a pyre now that I´ve said it?

[Simon Maguire]

Maybe Shane ment that different people take different things from same songs.

[cougar]

Since English isn´t my first language, I´m not sure if get all the different connotations in words like "friends" as opposed to "mates". I can see the difference but I didn´t know that "friends" is what kids use.

Anyway, this line in A Rainy Night in Soho has always sounded a little forced to me:

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means

It´s a great song and the line works fine, but it sounds like he didn´t bother to think of a better lyric and just wrote something...

Are you going to burn me in a pyre now that I´ve said it?

yeah, ive always felt the same about that line