Beltway Confidential

Shane MacGowan the muse

By Timothy P. Carney
Published November 30, 2023 10:02pm ET
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Shane MacGowan the muse
A candle burns next to a photograph of the Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan at the Mansion House, in Dublin, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. MacGowan, the singer-songwriter and frontman of the Pogues, best known for their ballad “Fairytale of New York,” has died. He was 65. His family said in a statement that "it is with the deepest sorrow and heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our most beautiful, darling and dearly beloved Shane Macgowan.” The singer died peacefully early Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, with his family by his side, the statement added.

My head was ringing with the lyrics “And a-rovin, a-rovin, a-rovin, I’ll go/ for a pair of brown eyes,” yet still I managed to finish the first draft of the Evans-Novak Political Report by the time I laid down on the office couch at 4 a.m., but the deadline was 9 a.m. So I set an alarm for 6:30.

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Death Ireland Music