Fairytale of New York Fairytale of New York "Fairytale of New York" is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their band the Pogues, featuring singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a duet, with the Pogues' singer MacGowan taking the role of the male character and MacColl the female character. It was originally released as a single on 23 November 1987 and later featured on the Pogues' 1988 album "If I Should Fall from Grace with God". Originally begun in 1985, the song had a troubled two-year development history,
Alone on Christmas Day mix of the song was recorded by the group and later circulated via bootlegs. In early 2015, Phoenix requested permission to cover the song for Bill Murray's "A Very Murray Christmas". In response, Love rerecorded the song himself and revised some of the lyrics. The version by Phoenix was then released. Besides Murray, their recording features Jason Schwartzman, Paul Shaffer, and New York Dolls' David Johansen (as Buster Poindexter). Phoenix's version was recorded in September and issued as a digital download and 7" vinyl. Alone on Christmas Day "Alone on Christmas Day" is a song written by Mike Love and