Victoria Mary Clarke: “The Connection I Have To Shane Will Always Be There
Victoria Mary Clarke has given a new interview to The Guardian about living with her husband, Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, who died on 30 November.
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“I’ve never been to one like it,” Clarke said of MacGowan’s funeral. “Usually they’re downbeat. But there was so much joy, so much exuberance, and the love was so extreme that it kind of swamped any of the other stuff.”
Clarke went on to talk about MacGowan’s love of language and creativity, “He’d be constantly thinking of words and needing something to write them on. It could be a receipt, your bank statement, your diary. You might go to a restaurant and he’d be writing all over the napkins and asking for more napkins.”
When discussing one of MacGowan’s greatest songs, A Rainy Night In Soho – sung by Nick Cave at the funeral – Clarke revealed its potential inspiration, “He wrote it for Frank [Sinatra] because he wanted him to sing it. And possibly the Soho that he had in mind could be the one in New York.”
“We’re all going to lose people at some point,” Clarke reflected. “I’m just hopeful that people can take away the idea that you don’t have to fall apart – that it’s still possible to maintain your connection with them, even after they’ve gone. I’m sure I’m going to feel the loss at times, but I know that the connection I have to Shane will always be there.”
Clarke spoke as the campaign to get The Pogues to No 1 this Christmas in celebration of MacGowan’s life.. Amazingly, Fairytale Of New York has never topped the charts, despite being one of the most beloved of all festive songs. When originally released in 1987 it hit a chart high of No 2, and was held off the top spot by the Pet Shop Boys’ Always On My Mind.
The Christmas classic ais being released s a 7” single with all profits from sales going to Dublin Simon Community – a charity loved and supported by MacGowan and Clarke.