The Pogues - Dirty Old Town 

RIP Shane, a unique talent. Hope they have Guinness in heaven

Rest in peace, sir. Thank you for giving us this song 🙏

I've been crying all day. The Pogues music literally altered the course of my life, sent me on a journey that saw me taking up mandolin and learning traditional Irish music, inspiring me to move to Cork City, Ireland for a spell, to learn more about my ancestral homeland. None of that would have happened without Shane's brilliant music. RIP Shane.

Mum passed away recently and this was played at her wake. Everyone was singing along. Rip mum rip Shane x

This song will resonated in the worlds dirty old towns forever. Thanks Shane , you did bloody well .

I am a 49 year old french person. When I was a teenager I was a fan of The Pogues. When I started making my own money by working during holiday periods, Rhum, Sodomy and the Lash was one of the very first CD I ever bought. Rest in peace Shane.

This song was played at my grandads funeral last week 😢 you are so loved and truly missed. RIP my beautiful grandad ❤❤❤

Rest in peace, Shane! Thank you!

Not many factories left anymore. I worked in some as a young man. It was deafening, brutal and dirty for the most part, but there always seemed to be one or two pretty young girls about to notice. One winter's late afternoon day I got up the nerve to ask a certain girl if I could walk her home. It was getting dark by then. Somewhere along the way she took my hand and held it until we got to her door. Nothing ever came of it, but holding that sweet girl's hand, whose life was no better than mine, was one of the greatest thrills of my long life. This song reminded me of it.

A true Irish man that sang songs with heart. RIP 💚

Someone who’s voice made you extra proud to be Irish🍀RIP Shane🍀

This song makes me cry. All the lives lived, the aspirations, the romances, and the mundane everyday doldrum - all of it lived out in forgotten and neglected corners of the world... it all rings clear in my mind when this song plays. God bless.

30.11.23 Tonight I wil get some whisky, play your records, sing aloud, cry with joy, and get drunk in your honor. Thanks for all the poetry and music, Shane. Rest in peace

This song is about my grandad's hometown, Salford, and it's meant a lot to me over the years. Shane made it his own. We've lost a beautiful poet. May his rest in peace.

"May the wind that blows from haunted graves Never bring you misery May the angels bright Watch you tonight And keep you while you sleep

and another one sign I'm old,,,shane gone, I'm 74,, one of the best songs I've ever heard 😢😢😢😢

My mom sang this to me almost every night growing up. RIP Shane

Sometimes, during a family meal my father was taking his harmonica and me my guitar ... he has been gone since 2017 and every time I listen to this song , my throat tightens and tears come ... Life is only memories ...

I named one of my guinea pigs Pogue Mahone, for reasons good; had to have him put to sleep yesterday. Id sing this song while holding him, sang it for him one last time yesterday. Pogue, hope wherever you are in the hereafter you meet up with Shane McGowan and he can sing it to you in my place!!! A great song.

I was Punk,Gothic,Skinhead in the 80s but on every party we played this song. Farwell i will never forget you. R.I.P.

This song means so much to me, more than I could ever confide or express. When I was a young man with a full-head of hair and a straight spine i would pick up my girlfriend after she worked her shift as a bartender at a local bar in Old Town, Alexandria, VA. This was back around 1984. On those torpid, steaming-hot summer nights, i would lean up against the red-brick wall while I waited for her and let the still-warm bricks warm my back and whistle this song. Oh, to be 24 again, with life strung out ahead of me like an endless highway, mom and dad there to confide in if things went askew and Tina, my precious bartender/ballerinia waiting for me after work.

I gave up the booze 6 months ago, but I'll be raising a zero alcohol Guinness for Shane tonight. This is my boys favourite song. They always ask me to play it. They're 2 & 3 and are currently bopping around my living room to it. RIP 🕊 you were a legend!

I"m french, but really, i"m so, so , so sad.... ...RIP Shane , now you are an angel in paradise ! Long live Ireland as free as you always wanted!

I'm a Dutchman and a big fan Shane, will never forget him, he turned things upside down during his concerts. RIP.

Who gives a shit about looks or teeth when you can evoke this emotion and sing with such beauty

My grandfather was born and raised in Salford before shipping off to France at the age of 17 to fight in the second world war. After being captured by the Germans twice and escaping twice he was hidden by the French and Belgian resistance for more than 4 years, at great expense to themselves. The town he was hiding in was eventually liberated and he was sent back home to Salford. Maybe being back home was too much for him after the war but he moved to Australia shortly after and raised a family over here. He passed away last year at the ripe old age of 98. I can't hear the opening harmonica of this song without immediately tearing up thinking about him.

In the eighties as a poor student I bought the Pogues album "If I should fall from grace with God" purely based on seeing the album cover in a shop, reasoning that with all the musical instruments used it must be good value for money. And it was! I have been a big fan of The Pogues ever since

RIP ! Une pensée de terre Celte, sur le sol de France, la Bretagne ne t'oubliera pas Shane ! Vive l'Irlande et la musique Celtique !

Shane did think about fixing his teeth. None other than Julie Andrews contacted him and told him NOT to do it. She had her teeth done, and it changed her singing voice. The mouth has its own acoustics. Pogue mahone!

Just a highly talented unique Singer, they dont make them like him anymore. RIP Shayne ♥

Merci pour tout ces bons moments à vous écouter que du bonheur 💓 Rip Shane

A poet from his heart and to the bone. It's a painful loss for us, but I hope you can feel our love from the other side❤️😢❤️

I feel drunk just listening to The Pogues ... Amazing.

Definitely shedding some tears today. I feel like I grew up with Shane and the Pogues during my college years. Making beer every week and getting fluthered listening to the Pogues with friends. Saw them at the Wiltern in LA when Joe Strummer stood in for him. I finally got a chance to see him in San Francisco many years later. He didn't disappoint. May his soul rest peacefully.

I'm having a Guinness in Shane's memory!! R.i.p. A celtic punk legend. You are missed. Rest easy my friend!!

My BEST live music memory was seeing the Pogues @ LaZona Rosa, circa 2005 in Austin Texas. #1, Period. The scheduled beginning of the show started with the announcement that they had just located Shane in Dallas (175 miles away) and were getting him on the next flight. He took the stage two hours late with a pint glass full of red wine. “Hello San Francisco!” He then called Davy Crockett a cross dresser. Drunk as a skunk, spilling wine all over his shirt, he put on the best performance I've ever witnessed. We watched him stagger to the drum set to beat the cymbals in perfect time, then stagger back to the leed microphone 🎤. You wondered if he would make it in time. He did, and whaled. Kinda like watching a boxer who was a bloody mess but couldn’t be stopped for 13 rounds. I remember seeing very sober musicians, taking themselves very seriously shortly after. No comparison. He was the artist. He only needed to open a vein, and let it bleed.

Just had this song in my dads funeral because he loved this song so much it means so much to me this song does

RIP Shane MacGowan (December 25, 1957 - November 30, 2023), aged 65 You will be remembered as a legend.

J'ai 51a et je viens aussi d'une Dirty Old Town d'un bassin industriel "John Cockerill" en Belgique... J'étais ado dans les 80s et heureux d'avoir vécu ces années avec tous ces artistes comme The Pogues ! Ce 02 Décembre 2023... R.I.P Shane 🕊️

Every time I drive to my hometown I sing this. I hated where I grew up. But it will always be my dirty old town🤍

RIP, a punk a poet and an Irishman 💔🕊

Anyone whoever grew up poor, working and in love. Dirty old town. Merry Christmas. 2017

RIP You absolute legend. Christmas will never be the same knowing the man who sang the single greatest Christmas song is no longer with us.

Soundtrack to my teenage years in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Thank you all of the Pogues, for making it cool/acceptable to be Irish again xx

This mans voice brings out emotions I didn't know I had. RIP Shane.

I always felt this was about my dirty ol'town of Belfast... but I'm sure many people feel it's about their home towns. Rest in Peace Shane, ye'beautiful ol'poet ye.

Memories of my trip to Ireland when I was 15. A Frenchman who loved the Pogues. RIP Shane

Meny good nights in your company god bless you will ❤

Memories of this.... stationed in Belfast as British soldier, and dating a Catholic girl who lived in Holywood. This would always be on the jukebox in the Seaside Tavern and we'd sit inside listening, drinking, cuddling whilst the mayhem of Belfast went on outside a few miles away in the wind and rain. I associate Belfast with this song. Great memories.

Počivao u miru i svjetlost vječna neka ti svjetli! Hvala za pjesme kojima si uljepšao svijet! 🇭🇷

Rest In Peace Shane.Hope you are singing this song in heaven ❤❤

Love this. It could be about any town during the deindustrialisation of the late 70s to early 90s and those of us who grew up in that era. Pure genius.

One of the most beautiful songs ever. Love from Sweden.

I remember finding a Pogues CD in a car park when i was a kid. I took it home and cleaned it and this was one of the songs on it. Never thought I'd be able to find it again, but here it is.

Since I was a little boy, God has always allowed this song to resound in my heart. Thank you Jesus for Julie and Buddy.

He and Kirsty are together again and I'm in tears.

First time I heard from the Poques was that they would warm up for Bob Dylan in the Greek theatre, Berkely, CA, 1989. For some reason they had lost all their instruments. They borrowed what they could and started playing. Unforgettable! Their art remains wonderful after all those years! What a giants.

A Poet, Writer, Lyricist, Singer, Rebel, and all round man of his convictions .......... God Bless you mate

R.i.p.Shane.Hvala za sve pjesme lijepa Irska muzika.Blagoslov božji neka te prati .Croatia.

So beautifully Irish

RIP Shane MacGowan, and thanks for all of the wonderful music.

Chanson mémorable ❤️ Quand j'entends cette chanson Un sourire me vient aux lèvres Le temps de l'insouciance Le temps du bien-être Un temps, vieux temps

I just heard and immediately came to see him sing this masterpiece. His voice will last forever!

Repose en paix Shane! Dans les souvenirs que j’ai de ma vie en Irlande il y a toujours tes chansons en arrière plan. Je trinque à ta mémoire et à l’Irlande ce pays de musiciens et de poètes.

As much as I love The Pogues, one of my greatest fears is to be bitten by Shane MacGowan.

Absolute legend rip Shane your voice will sing forever

RIP Shane and thank you for your music!

You will always bring tears in my eyes with your songs - tears of full love and happiness! RIP, a Giant!

Had an half hour chat with shane in 1995 at window rock, belgium, I will never forget this

What's marvelous about this song and the Pogues is that they could rise up to sublime quality out of misery and the mundane.

So sorry to only have discovered Shane after his passing. Rest in Eternal Peace...love Dirty old Town.

My older brother bought this album when he was 16. He became later a dj back in the 90’s & 00’s, he played kind of alternative parties. This kind a stuff instead of Bonnie Tyler… I kissed my first girlfiend, then. Now he’s got issues with the Zyrtec he had to use of the doctors because he had astma. He’s palliative now… ❤️ I love you, drink some Wiske in parasadise.

For years this was kind of a social barometer for me I used it when I was going out on dates. If the girl liked the song usually it was a good indication that we were going to have fun together. A long time ago I've played this for my wife before we were married and almost immediately she said "Oh I love The Pogues". I guess that explains part of the reason we're still together...this one's to you my dear Miss Galloway.

Many tears will be shed for you Shane. Thank you for sharing your beautiful mind and lyrics with us

Rest in Paradise Shane. An enlightening human to say the least. Great talent.

I met my love by the gas works wall Dreamed a dream by the old canal I kissed my girl by the factory wall Dirty old town Dirty old town Clouds are drifting across the moon Cats are prowling on their beat Spring's a girl from the streets at night Dirty old town Dirty old town I heard a siren from the docks Saw a train set the night on fire I smelled the spring on the smoky wind Dirty old town Dirty old town I'm gonna make me a good sharp axe Shining steel tempered in the fire I'll chop you down like an old dead tree Dirty old town Dirty old town I met my love by the gas works wall Dreamed a dream by the old canal I kissed my girl by the factory wall Dirty old town Dirty old town Dirty old town

Shane has a voice like a freight train, pure raw talent, amazing.

Happy St. Paddy's day from Italy, I love you all! We're gonna make it

No glitz, make-up, from his heart, a real man n singer.

Ireland's loss is heaven's gain, as they say. The music lives on down here - and undoubtedly up there too. Codladh sámh Shane, Ronnie, Sinéad and Christy will have had the whiskey ready 💚

Sometimes the most creative and brilliant people drink a lot just to cope with life because they feel things so deeply. I love Shane and I love Brendan Behan... and on that note, I raise a toast to them both!

❤ eine warme Stimme, die alles was ich liebe vereinen konnte: Irish Folk, Punk, Melancholie und er hatte ein großes Herz. Leider war er in der Drogenhölle gefangen. Ein Rebell, Idol, Revolutionär, großer Musiker, Freund und Familienmensch. So schön die Filme zu sehen, die gerade über ihn laufen. Selbst die Beerdigung ist immer meine Einschlafhilfe. Egal in welcher Band er war, immer ein Genie. Ich vermisse dich, Shane. Nun geht einer nach dem anderen aus der verruchten Szene- wiederum läuft in jedem Krimi Punk. Ob Ramones, Chlash oder Pistoles. Punk stirbt nie und meine Kinder sind damit groß geworden 🌹🌹🌹

RIP Shane MacGowan. One of the very few who weve lost to have made me shed a tear 🍀

Repose en paix Shane et merci pour toutes ces belles chansons... on vous aime 😢😢😢

Cried at his passing,RIP Shane...........💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

I grew up in Halifax, Yorkshire. We used to go into Manchester alot. Always thought it was a dirty old town, never went to Salford but couldn't imagine it's any cleaner than Manchester. I love it though it's history. The north has a proud industrial Hertiage that drove the industrial revolution. You gotta be proud of these dirty places that changed the course of human history.

RIP Shane, one of the heroes of my youth, forever in my pantheon and in my heart and immortal through the art you have given us. Love from Italy.

Their intro to this auld tune is the reason I picked up a harmonica, and can now pay the mortgage with a tune. RIP Shane, thanks for spreading joy.

This song always gives me chills. R.I.P, you fine Irish trabadour! We will never see his like again.

Rest in peace Shane lad...Being born in a mill town in Lancashire (now greater Manchester for some reason) I can relate to this song so much. Wonderful version by Shane and the lads. Gods Speed.

This song reminds me of beautiful days and good memories, i love it.

Une balade qui nous a bercé...nous bercés et nous bercera...longue vie dans nos cœurs Shane

I learned about Shane through my husband. He has the best taste!! I even bought a couple books about Shane. I want to know the spirit behind the talent too. ❤️ from 🇺🇸! RIP I’ll never know you but you touched my life ❤

Rest in peace to a legend. thanks for lovely music, Shane.

This is the song that made me fall in love and marry the only man I ever wanted to fall in love with and marry. Thank you. I adore you...

Now that is class harmonica playing,we will miss shane,but never forget those beautiful musicians who worked with Shane to bring out those fabulous songs .. big love from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ❤👌

I still remember the day when Shane passed away. I was listening to his music on the train to work which I hadn't done for quite some time. Shortly after I got to my office I read the sad news of his passing away. RIP Shane, we miss you and we'll never forget you.

Brand new fan right here. These guys are amazing.

RIP to both Shane (1957-2023), and the writer of this song, Ewan MacColl (1917-1989). May both of them be singing songs together in heaven.

Who'd have thought that an irish bagpipe and a fiddle would go so well together... i grew up in a dirty old town. What a beautiful song!