If I Should Fall from Grace with God

If I Should Fall from Grace with God
Studio album by The Pogues
Publication (s)	January 18, 1988
Label (s)	Island Records
Format (s)	CD , LP , MC
Genre (s)	Irish folk , Celtic rock , folk-punk
Title (number)	15 (CD) / 13 (LP)
running time	51:43 (CD) / 44:06 (LP)
occupation	Shane MacGowan - vocals , guitar Spider Stacy - Tin Whistle , vocals James Fearnley - accordion , piano , mandolin , dulcimer , guitar, cello Jem Finer - banjo , saxophone Philip Chevron - guitar, mandolin Terry Woods - cister , lute , concertina , banjo, dulcimer, guitar, vocals Darryl Hunt - bass , vocals Andrew Ranken - drums , vocals
production	Steve Lillywhite
Studio (s)	RAK Studios, London
chronology Poguetry in Motion (1986) If I Should Fall from Grace with God Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah (1988)

If I Should Fall from Grace with God is the third studio album by British folk band The Pogues and was released in 1988. It reached third place on the UK album charts.

history

The album distanced itself from the band's earlier, folk-punk-based recordings by increasing commercialism and mixing the style of the Pogues with e.g. B. Jazz and the traditional music of Spain and the Middle East. If I Should Fall from Grace with God was the Pogues' first album to include a full drum kit.

Also heard for the first time on an LP-length studio album were Terry Woods and Darryl Hunt, the latter replacing Cait O'Riordan .

The band members and their instruments are shown on the cover of the LP or CD. The album's alternate cover for North America is a collage of photos of the band members with members' faces overlaid on that of Irish writer James Joyce. Joyce is shown fourth from the left in the picture.

The Fairytale of New York , which was released as a single, reached second place in the British charts. It was initially planned as a duet between MacGowan and Cait O'Riordan; after O'Riordan left the band, however, it was replaced by Kirsty MacColl . The song has already been voted “the best Christmas carol of all time” by many different media . MacColl was initially only supposed to sing the guide vocals, but the band was so impressed with their performance that they were asked to sing MacColl on the final recording. The song was only titled after the recording with Fairytale Of New York , after the novel of the same name JP Donleavys . In the music video for the song, Matt Dillon made a brief appearance as the MacGowan cop arrested. Fairytale of New York was covered by Sinéad O'Connor , Razorlight , Third Eye Blind , Christy Moore , Dropkick Murphys , Ronan Keating , Coldplay , Amy Macdonald , and (with a German text as Weihnachtsnaach ) by BAP and Nina Hagen .

Thousands Are Sailing describes the emigration of the Irish to America and the events and problems associated with it. The song was originally written by Philip Chevron and sung by MacGowan, later Chevron sang the song live himself.

Fiesta is a version of the Liechtenstein polka edited by MacGowan and Finer, originally written by Edmund Kötscher and Rudi Lindt . MacGowan and Finer combine English and Spanish lyrics in the song, some of the band members get small roles within the lyrics (James Fearnley and the former bassist Cait O'Riordan), also Elvis Costello and his album King of America (in Spanish “el rey de America “ ) Appear.

The medley Streets Of Sorrow / Birmingham Six was written partly by Terry Woods and partly by MacGowan, both songs revolve around the Northern Ireland conflict and the IRA . The Birmingham Six consisted of Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker, falsely convicted of bombings in Birmingham . The case went down in history as a judicial scandal.

There is a reference to the song Will You Come to the Bower in The Broad Majestic Shannon . One line of text reads: "You can ride on the tide o'er the broad Majestic Shannon, You can sail round Loch Neagh and see storied Dungannon."

The songs South Australia and Battle March Medley are only on the CD version of the album due to the limited playing time of the record.

Track list

First published in 1988

Page A:

1. If I Should Fall from Grace with God (Shane MacGowan) - 2:20
2. Turkish Song of the Damned (MacGowan, Jem Finer) - 3:27
3. Bottle of Smoke (MacGowan, Finer) - 2:47
4. Fairytale of New York (featuring Kirsty MacColl ) (MacGowan, Finer) - 4:36
5. Metropolis - (Finer) 2:50
6. Thousands Are Sailing (Philip Chevron) - 5:28
7. South Australia (Traditional) ⁽¹⁾ - 3:27

Side B:

1. Fiesta (MacGowan, Finer) - 4:13
2. Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant / The Rocky Road to Dublin / The Galway Races (Traditional) -4: 03
3. Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six (MacGowan, Terry Woods) - 4:39
4. Lullaby of London (MacGowan) - 3:32
5. The Battle March Medley (Woods) ⁽¹⁾ - 4:10
6. Sit Down by the Fire (MacGowan) - 2:17
7. The Broad Majestic Shannon (MacGowan) - 2:55
8. Worms (Traditional) - 1:01

¹ Included on the CD version only

Re-release in 2005

1. If I Should Fall from Grace with God (Shane MacGowan) - 2:20
2. Turkish Song of the Damned (MacGowan, Jem Finer) - 3:27
3. Bottle of Smoke (MacGowan, Finer) - 2:47
4. Fairytale of New York (MacGowan, Finer) - 4:36
5. Metropolis - (Finer) 2:50
6. Thousands Are Sailing (Philip Chevron) - 5:28
7. Fiesta (MacGowan, Finer) - 4:13
8. Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant / The Rocky Road to Dublin / The Galway Races (Traditional) - 4:03
9. Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six (MacGowan, Terry Woods) - 4:39
10. Lullaby of London (MacGowan) - 3:32
11. Sit Down by the Fire (MacGowan) - 2:17
12. The Broad Majestic Shannon (MacGowan) - 2:55
13. Worms (Traditional) - 1:01
14. The Battle March Medley (Woods) - 4:10
15. The Irish Rover (Joseph Crofts, Traditional) ⁽²⁾ - 4:07
16. Mountain Dew (Traditional) ⁽²⁾ - 2:19
17. Shanne Bradley (MacGowan) ⁽²⁾ - 3:41
18. Sketches Of Spain (The Pogues) ⁽²⁾ - 2:14
19. South Australia (Traditional) - 3:27

² Not included in the initial release

reception

source	rating
Allmusic
Music Express

If I Should Fall from Grace with God received positive reviews. Kurt Loder from Rolling Stone magazine said:

"Obviously the Pogues can do it all. And it sounds as if they've only just begun."

“Obviously the Pogues can do anything. And it sounds like they have only just started. "

Robert Christgau rated the album B + and wrote in his review:

"Neither pop nor rock nor disco crossover stays these groghounds from the swift accomplishment of their appointed rounds."

"Neither pop nor rock nor disco crossover stop these drunkards from quickly achieving their goals."

Allmusic's Mark Deming called it "the best album the Pogues could ever make" and gave If I Should Fall from Grace with God four and a half stars out of five.

The New Musical Express voted Fairytale of New York # 194 of the 500 best songs of all time.

Web links

• If I Should Fall from Grace with God at Allmusic (English)
• Review by Robert Christgau
• Review of Rolling Stone magazine,
• Entry on www.poguetry.com
• Official website of the band

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Review by Mark Deming on allmusic.com (accessed December 3, 2017)
2. ↑ Musikexpress Review (archive article ) on musikexpress.de (accessed on December 3, 2017)
3. ↑ Playlist - NME's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time on nme.com, accessed December 3, 2017