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POGUE MAHONE MEANS KISS MY ARSE - PART 1

An Interview With Shane MacGowan

INTERVIEW BY ANDY CAPPER

We won’t go too much into who Shane MacGowan is here because, for God’s sake, you should know. He’s got our vote for best lyricist of the 20th century, and he’s a singer who can bring grown men to tears with just one well-turned phrase. Is he a drunk and a now-and-then junkie? Sure. But the fans that find amusement in that, the ones who hold him up as some kind of mascot of Irish debauchery, are missing the point entirely. That’s a simpleton’s way of looking at Shane. That’s how fucking Walt Disney probably saw the Irish. The only thing we want to say about his boozing is that it’s a shame it will probably kill him before his time. Or who knows, maybe it will kill him right at his time. Who are we to guess how long Shane MacGowan will live? He turns 51 this year. We hope he lives forever.

We interviewed Shane on March 1st in his kitchen in Dublin’s Donnybrook area. Donnybrook is historically one of the unruliest parts of Ireland thanks to the reputation of the Donnybrook Fair, which was notorious for its drinking, fighting, carousing, and banshee-like shrieking. It was banned in 1855, and Donnybrook is now one of the city’s most respectable areas, but the legend remains.

During our time in his kitchen, Shane was projecting images from a DVD of traditional Irish folk music from the 60s and 70s onto the wall of his living room while singing along to the music. He drank white wine and gin from a mug with “Morphine” written on the side and chain-smoked hash. He punctuated almost every sentence with “Know what I mean, yeah,” and then made his trademark laugh, which is indescribable but can best be transcribed as, “Eeeeshshshsh.”

PS: We never put “celebrities” on our cover, but we couldn’t do the History Issue without this man on the front of it.


Vice: Hi, Shane. We came to take your photo and maybe talk a bit about history.

Shane MacGowan: OK, you better sit down then. Some people would say that these cameras were worse than guns because they could steal your souls. Know what I mean, yeah? Eeeeshshshsh.

Which Irish historical figure do you most admire?

Gerry O’Boyle.

But he’s your friend, so let’s say anyone apart from Gerry.

Eamon de Valera. He was the Irish prime minster, president, and, like, the main author of the Constitution of Ireland. He had an American passport because his mother was an immigrant who went over to America, right? She got married to a Hispanic American. So they got their American passports and they came back.

He was president of Ireland all through the 60s, right?

Yeah. He was a politician but he was a crack shot as well. He was tasty. He took it up with the Brits in the civil war.

What else was special about him?

He did what Stalin did, but he did it without killing all the people, know what I mean, yeah? He was a great figurehead for Ireland. When World War II came around, the English asked him for their support and he said, “Fuck you, Churchill, you bastard!”

Excellent.

Churchill kept saying, “We want to use your ports,” but Valera pointed out that he already had the main ports across the world. Eeeeshshshsh.

What do you think about Churchill?

A lot of people nowadays complain about Mad Bomber Harris and what he did, but really all he was doing was carrying out the orders of Churchill, who was a mad, fascist, racist nutter. And the fucking Americans were as well. They completely destroyed Dresden and they had to rebuild it, stone by stone, over 15 or 20 years. The Germans were keeping all their most valuable treasures underground, know what I mean?

You’ve been a big supporter of Irish independence your whole life. How do you think the ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Northern Ireland have changed the country?

Well, there have been less bank robberies, you know what I mean, yeah? Eeeeshshshsh. There’s generally been less paramilitary activity.

Right. What else has changed?

Well there have been a few things like girl-napping and child-napping and child killing and girl killing and girl and boy abuse and that’s led to a lot of people getting kicked out of their jobs in the priesthood. Eeeeshshshsh. That was a joke, that was a joke. I didn’t mean that.

It’s funny because it’s true. But what have been the actual benefits of the ceasefire?

For a start, we got rid of the Brits, you know? And now Ireland’s, like, the biggest growing economy in the world. Ireland was like a child at school that was bullied. Then one day it says, “No fucking more, right?” This country’s been growing at something like 3.7 per cent per year. Ireland leads the way in education in the world. This didn’t happen overnight but it’s happened and it’s growing all the time.


TO BE CONTINUED
POGUE MAHONE MEANS KISS MY ARSE | 1 | 2 |

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Comments

Anonymous, on Oct 25, 2009 wrote: On your feet motherfucker

Anonymous, on Oct 25, 2009 wrote: SHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-O!

Anonymous, on Oct 25, 2009 wrote: Shane-O!!!!!

Anonymous, on May 8, 2009 wrote: Wow, this actually sounded like a joke: Shane McGowan being interviewed about Irish politics. Seriously, this guy is unable to hold coherent coversation anymore, let alone conduct debate on such a sensitive topic as northern irish militancy. And for that prick The Mouse on May 16 2008, grow a brainstem you ignorant cuntrag.

Anonymous, on Apr 15, 2009 wrote: Fuck Ireland and fuck Shane McGowan. Seriously, I’m Irish and I’ve lived in Ireland all my life. Hate the place; a relentless psychological nightmare of failure and alcohol dependency and brute ignorance and seedy religion. It’s like Joyce said: "Ireland is the sow that eats its young."

Anonymous, on Jan 11, 2009 wrote: Shane McGowan, talkin shite but livin the dream. If you want a real Irish hero try Brian O’Nolan. He took a hammer to all the romanticized Irish bullshit, and somehow came out of it more Irish than anything Guinness or Dev ever conjured up.

Anonymous, on Dec 5, 2008 wrote: haha what a crock of gold pish. Shane is one of the pillars of Irish marketing along with guinness, the troubles and the famine. feckless romantic eejits who dont give a fuck but are happy and enjoy a good Eeeeshshshsh.

Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2008 wrote: wow, what a load of racist wankers

Anonymous, on Jun 13, 2008 wrote: What a handsome bastard