Pogues – The Sunny Side Of The Street

I’ve posted only one Pogues song before. CB brought them up and I started to listen and song after song was quality. I remember them but more for the name than the music. What a catalog they have and I’ve been listening to them almost non-stop this week. This song is so positive that it rubs off.

This song just gives off a great vibe. The Sunny Side of the Street was inspired by the band’s experiences growing up in working-class neighborhoods. They witnessed firsthand the struggles and triumphs of the people around them. They wanted to shine the light on the resilience and ability to find joy in even the most challenging circumstances.

The Pogues were formed in Ireland in 1982 by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left because of drinking problems and was replaced by Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before breaking up in 1996. They reformed in 2001 and toured until 2014.

The song was written by Shane MacGowan and Jeremy Fier. I was released in 1990 and was on the album Hell’s Ditch. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard Alternative Charts in 1991. The album was produced by former Clash member Joe Strummer.

On November 30…Shane MacGowan passed away. Yesterday, his coffin was being taken down the streets of Dublin pulled by a horse-drawn carriage. He was 65 years old.

The Sunny Side of the Street

Seen the carnival at Rome
Had the women, I had the booze
All that I can remember now
Is little kids without no shoes

So, I saw that train and I got on it
With a heartful of hate and a lust for vomit
Now I’m walking on the sunnyside of the street

Stepped over bodies in Bombay
Tried to make it to the U.S.A.
Ended up in Nepal
Up on the roof with nothing at all
And I knew that day
I was going to stay right where I am
On the sunnyside of the street

Been in a palace, been in a jail
I just don’t want to be reborn a snail
Just want to spend eternity right where I am
On the sunnyside of the street

As my mother wept it was then I swore
To take my life as I would a whore
I know I’m better than before
I will not be reconstructed

Just want to stay right here
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street
The sunnyside of the street

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

28 thoughts on “Pogues – The Sunny Side Of The Street”

  1. When I saw the title of your post, my first thought was “On the Sunny Side of the Street”, a song from 1930 I first heard by Frank Sinatra many moons ago. I figured The Pogues might have done a rendition – great group. I really dig what I think is probably their best known song: “Fairytale of New York” – one of the modern day Christmas songs I’m not tired to still hear. “The Sunnyside of the Street” sounds great as well!

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  2. Geez, I didn’t know Macgowan had died. The list keeps growing for ’23. Like Christian, mainly I know them for ‘Fairytale of New York’ but I heard several of their other pub rockers in the 80s, sounded like a fun band. I believe Joe Strummer sat in (sang in?) for Shane periodically when he was pouting or, err, incapacitated shall we say.

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    1. I know man…a lot of great ones this year are gone.
      This one is so positive that you would have to try not to like. I love what I’ve heard this week.

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    2. You are correct sir!
      The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in King’s Cross, London, in 1982, as Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning “kiss my arse”.

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  6. This song has started me off in a good mood. You mention the songwriting. Because bands like this dont get mass appeal a lot of folks arent exposed to what great songs they have. I know people and artists throw around “best this, best that”, I dont doubt their praise. I heard a clip from Nick Cave recently giving the highest praise to Shane. I wont argue with him. He wrote some gut shot songs. Nudging each other to music is what we do here Max. Keep up the good work.

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    1. I will back you up in that now…picking a song wasn’t difficult CB because I couldn’t go wrong with what I picked. This one is so damn positive…I just had to pick it.
      Thanks for the headsup CB… I heard Johnny Depp talking in depth on how much MacGowan meant.

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