Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/18/faiytale_censorship/
Beeb censors Fairytale of New York
'You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy f-----'
Posted in Bootnotes, 18th December 2007 11:02 GMT
The BBC has censored The Pogues' xmas classic Fairytale of New York lest the lyrics offend homosexuals, the Telegraph reports.
The line in question is, of course, "You scumbag, you maggot you cheap lousy faggot, Happy Christmas your arse I pray God It's our last", now gracing the airwaves with "faggot" beeped out.
A Beeb spokesman offered: "This step has been taken as this is a word that members of our audience would find offensive."
Fans are having none of it. David Higgins, of Liverpool, said: "Fairytale of New York is a great Christmas tune and this line sums up the theme of the song. The two singers are meant to be bickering at each other, so what is the point in censoring anything offensive - it defies the object of the track."
Fairytale of New York is a perennial Christmas fave, which regularly lurks around the top of lists of all-time Yule ditties. It's tipped to take this year's festive number one spot a good 20 years since its first release as a single, with Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles campaigning on its behalf.
Moyles descibed his masters' censorship decision as "ridiculous", although they insist it's "not a blanket ban but a station by station decision". ®