Nick Cave wrote a eulogy in The Guardian for his dear friend Shane MacGowan, who died last month at the age of 65. He expressed his admiration and envy of McGowan’s unique approach to lyricism. Cave praised McGowan for his exceptional talent and pointed out that McGowan’s style is rooted in the Irish ballad tradition, while his own songs are more contemporary, darker and experimental. He stated:
“What I really envied about Shane’s lyric writing was that he was doing something extraordinary with the classic songwriting form. His way of writing was steeped in the tradition of Irish balladry. It was in no way modern, whereas my songs, back then, were more of their time: darker and fractured and experimental. There was little compassion in them. No true understanding of the ‘ordinary.'”
Referring to a line from McGowan’s song ‘Fairytale of New York,’ Cave said he would never be able to come up with such a lyric. He continued:
“I don’t think I could have written a lyric like ‘The wind goes right through you/ It’s no place for the old’ (from Fairytale of New York). It speaks volumes. You can feel the wind and the ice in the air but also the sense of learned empathy and deep compassion Shane had for people.”
Cave Named MacGowan As The Best Songwriter Of His Generation
Cave and MacGowan have been friends for a long time. In 1992, the duo performed a cover version of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’ together and have performed together many times since then. Cave wrote about MacGowan’s kindness and musical brilliance in an installment of The Red Hand Files. He then performed a cover of the Pogues’ 1986 ballad ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’ at MacGowan’s funeral. In The Red Hand Files, calling Shane ‘the greatest songwriter of his generation,’ Cave wrote:
“I know I should be talking about the pure unbridled genius of Shane MacGowan and how he was the greatest songwriter of his generation, with the most terrifyingly beautiful of voices — all of which is true —…”
After praising Shane’s musical genius, he wanted to write about his personality. Cave continued:
“Shane was not revered just for his manifold talents but also loved for himself alone. A beautiful and damaged man, who embodied a kind of purity and innocence and generosity and spiritual intelligence unlike any other.”
You can listen to Nick Cave’s cover of ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’ performed at MacGowan’s funeral below.
