Nick Cave Remembers Shane MacGowan in Thoughtful Obituary: “He Had Effortless, God-Given Talent”
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The post Nick Cave Remembers Shane MacGowan in Thoughtful Obituary: “He Had Effortless, God-Given Talent” appeared first on Consequence.
Earlier this month, Nick Cave paid tribute to his longtime friend, The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, by performing a cover of “A Rainy Night in Soho” at MacGowan’s funeral. Now, Cave has honored the late Irish songwriter again by penning an obituary for The Guardian, published on Thursday, December 21st.
After explaining how he and MacGowan first met — a “summit” organized by NME to bring the two writers, plus The Fall’s Mark E. Smith, together — Cave touched on the early days of the two’s friendship. “I was excited [to meet him] because I was a fan, completely in awe of Shane’s songwriting,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, it was my first day out of rehab, and it probably wasn’t the greatest idea to spend the day with two people who were not known for their moderation… Not the most auspicious start to a friendship, but Shane and I did become close friends soon afterwards.”
Cave then described his relationship with MacGowan, recalling the latter’s excitement when he learned that Cave was drinking again. “We met in a bar and he asked me what I wanted; I ordered a double vodka and his eyes just lit up, “ Cave wrote. “It was like he was a little kid and it was Christmas Day. And that was that. We spent the next years going out, fucking around, getting wasted.”
Their time drinking together, of course, gave Cave a unique understanding of the compassionate human being behind MacGowan’s artistic output, as well as the hardships MacGowan bore. “Shane saw it as a solemn duty to be permanently fucked up and, for most of his life, he was happy to be the way he was,” Cave wrote. “I respected that about him, but sometimes it was difficult. There were times when he was so reduced he was barely functioning and, as a friend, that was heartbreaking to see.”
To that end, Cave expressed amazement with MacGowan’s working style: “To me, his songs were such precious things, deep works of art, really, but he didn’t treat them like that. While I labored away at my desk, day after day, to produce what I could, Shane’s words were delivered to him on a beer tray with a whiskey chaser.”
Cave also praised MacGowan’s ability to convey humanity through his songs. “He was doing something extraordinary with the classic songwriting form,” he wrote. “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.'”
Continuing, Cave highlighted MacGowan’s beloved Christmas tune, “Fairytale of New York,” writing: “I don’t think I could have written a lyric like ‘The wind goes right through you/ It’s no place for the old.’ 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.”
Over time, though, MacGowan’s darker side began catching up to him. “There’s a myth that there are these ‘special’ people, who do everything to excess and somehow carry on being creative, but it’s just not true,” Cave wrote. “It was sad to see Shane lose his extraordinary gifts and become so diminished over time, but that doesn’t stop you loving someone.”
MacGowan ultimately died on November 30th at the age of 65 from pneumonia. Fittingly, Cave asserted that “at the end of the day, it is his genius we should remember rather than all the other stuff.”
Concluding, Cave wrote: “He wrote a bunch of songs that are truly great. That’s a hell of a lot more than most songwriters manage. His best lyrics have a truly lived-in nature to them. His beautiful soul is baked into every word… Shane was not like other people. Regardless of what condition he was in, he had a goodness about him and a depth of feeling about the poetic nature of our human condition that was immeasurable. There was a truth to him, a clarity of soul that was of the purest kind. You can’t hide something like that. The whole world could see it, which is why he was so deeply loved by so many.”
Read the full obituary here.
Cave is one of many folks who have remembered MacGowan since his death, including Flea, Bruce Springsteen, Jason Kelce, Tom Waits, his former Pogues bandmates, mourners on the streets of Dublin, and more. Last week, a 7-inch vinyl reissue of “Fairytale of New York” was announced, with proceeds going to Dublin Simon Community, an organization that MacGowan supported which is dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.
Nick Cave Remembers Shane MacGowan in Thoughtful Obituary: “He Had Effortless, God-Given Talent”
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