Not only is this one of my favorite Christmas songs, I also feel it's one of the greatest love songs ever written. The Pogues masterfully wove a gigantic love story into a sweet, snarling Irish romp of a four-and-a-half-minute song. It's framed by old men sitting around the fire, looking back on life at Christmas time and then it dives into a sweeping tale of young love's fire and brimstone in the middle of New York City. On this cut from Dustin Kensrue (frontman for heavy art rockers Thrice), he rips the classic up from it's roots and turns it into his own animal. He drains the Irish snot from the verses as well as the call the response male/female dynamic, but he carries the weight of the song's sweeter side.

MP3: Dustin Kensrue - Fairytale of New York (Pogues cover)
Web / Myspace / eMusic / more