After two decades of airplay, the BBC
just noticed that the Pogues' classic Christmas jam "Fairytale Of New York" has a naughty word tucked into it—you know, the one singer Kirsty MacColl rhymes with "maggot"—and has excised it in order to keep its audience from fainting or getting the vapors or whatever uptight British people do when aghast. Naturally, many of the song's millions of fans think the Beeb is being a bit silly, including the late MacColl's mum, who pulled out the Mark Knopfler defense to put Radio 1 on blast.
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Idolator
So it turns out BBC's Radio 1 isn't gonna bleep (or "fade out," whatever) the word "faggot" in the Pogues' "Fairytale Of New York" after all. Gay rights folks are already calling the move hypocritical, however: "I doubt that the BBC would take the same relaxed attitude if this song included the n-word, or abusive language like 'Paki' or 'yid'." [
