Fairytale of New York

In the UK Fairytale of New York is the most-played Christmas Song in the 21st century and in many polls it is regarded as the best Christmas song of all time. It was first released as a single by the Pogues on 23rd November 1987. It was written by Pogues members Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan as a duet featuring MacGowan as the male character and Kirsty MacColl as the female. It is an Irish folk-style ballad although its genre descriptors include Celtic rock, Celtic punk and Christmas song. It featured on The Pogues' 1988 album If I Should Fall from Grace with God.

It took two years for the song to reach its final version with many rewrites and unsuccessful attempts at recording along the way. In making a wind band arrangement I had to decide whether to preserve the original sense of a vocal duet (with its colourful lyrics) or to try and make it more of a band entity. I tried to steer a course between the two, hopefully keeping the spirit of the original while making it a viable piece for band.

Please respect the rights of copyright owners. Purchasing or performing an unlicensed arrangement of music is illegal. Permission for this arrangement was granted to the RAF only, and further permission must be sought before this arrangement can be sold. If you are interested in purchasing this piece, please contact us and we can make enquiries on your behalf.

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