This song by the Pogues just will not go away. Listed for many awards since it was first heard in 1987 it has acquired the title of the “best Christmas song ever” in the UK and Ireland.

The lyrics contain language associated with New York street culture and, in the original version, are sung in a drunken Irish brogue which lends authenticity to the words and anchors the ballad in our folklore.

It came as a surprise to hear it sung this week in St Ann’s Church as part of a Christmas concert. On the other hand it encapsulates another side of Christmas which is reality for many.

The song introduces us to an Irish immigrant, alone on Christmas Eve, who has been drowning his sorrows and has ended up in a police cell. Another inmate breaks into a drinking song which triggers memories of his past and his girlfriend with whom he has a turbulent relationship.

The song develops in his mind into a duet with her and portrays the havoc drink and drugs have created in their lives. Their talents have been laid to waste as they vainly cling to the last vestiges of love they have for each other.

The “Fairytale of New York” has not happened for them. Affluence has passed them by. They have tried to blot out the memories and have only their dreams to hold on to. These take on a bitter taste against the backdrop of the NYPD choir singing “Galway Bay” a song reminding them of the immigrants hope of retiring to that beautiful place. And as if to increase the agony the refrain is repeated, “And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day”. 

Joy for some pain for others. Fairytale or misery – is that the choice?

The Bible sees the coming to earth of Jesus not as a fairytale but as the Creator entering His creation to introduce us to a third way to live. Jesus neither endorsed the lifestyle of the wealthy nor the poor, the up and out or the down and out, but a new creation (2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verses 16/17).

He saw people as sheep without a shepherd (the existing shepherds were no good) St Matthew chapter 9 verses 35/36. He not only explained what a good shepherd would look like, he lived it; “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”.

No doubt some sheep were in better condition than others but the Bible does not judge then on that basis. The decisive factor is whether or not they have heard the Shepherd’s voice speaking to them personally and, however imperfectly, are following him (St John Chapter 10 verses 1/11).

The narrator’s love, expressed in the song, is defective as our human love always is. The love with which Jesus loves his sheep is not sexual but sacrificial not eros but agape. He actually died for them. It will never change, grow cold or be extinguished. And it holds good whether you are in a cell or a citadel.

Fairytales don’t come true. The good Shepherd still gathers his sheep. Listen to is voice and follow him.