Bruce Springteen’s tender cover of “A Rainy Night in Soho” serves as the lead single from a massive tribute album to late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, 20th Century Paddy — The Songs of Shane MacGowan. The project will be released Nov. 13 through Rubyworks and was spearheaded by MacGowan’s widow, Victory Mary Clarke. The musician died at the age of 65 in 2023 after years of poor health.
For now, the list of contributors to 20th Century Paddy includes Tom Waits, MacGowan’s former Pogues bandmates, Hozier and Jessie Buckley, Johnny Depp and Imelda May, David Gray, Dropkick Murphys, Glen Hansard, the Jesus & Mary Chain, Kate Moss, Primal Scream, Steve Earle, the Libertines and the Murder Capital. Additional artists will be announced.
Springsteen waxed poetic about MacGowan in a note accompanying the album announcement. “Every once in a while — every once in a great while — an artist comes along whose voice seems to speak to history itself,” he wrote. “Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Rogers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Coltrane, Patti Smith, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, John Lydon, Hank Williams, Sinatra. Geniuses all, they were both timeless and the embodiment of their moment in time. Many, unsurprisingly, led difficult lives not easily bound by the shackles of convention. They were natural rebels unable to stifle or heed the impulses that led them to their glory and personal hardships.”
“Great art is by nature lawless. We do not get to choose our obsessions, ” he continues. “We do not get to dictate our blessings or our transgressions. It’s a little joke the gods play on us. Shane’s voice was so deeply real, profane and honest, his writing so flashing, alive and historically rich its genesis appeared as a mystery to all including, I believe, its creator. The dangerous joy, the glee and courage, the humor in the face of fate, the wild ramble of a life driven towards the artistic heavens and the daily balm of self obliteration. Shane was all naked bottomless humanity. Threatening to force us to ask ourselves if we were living deeply, authentically. He was raw, hilarious, no apologies and profound. His soul was filled with the transgressive and ecstatic properties of the saints.”
“I don’t know who’ll be listening to my music in 100 years but I know they’ll be listening to Shane’s,” Springsteen concludes. “Though I did not know Shane very well, I spent a lovely afternoon in his presence shortly before he passed. He was not well but he and his wife Victoria proved warm and gracious hosts. As I left, I thanked him for his beautiful work, his music, his songs, his life. I stood in his warmth, kissed him and told him I loved him.”
Says Clarke of 20th Century Paddy, “Shane’s spirit and songwriting are eternally exalted through this glorious collection. Each song is uniquely and graciously interpreted by these beyond beautiful artists and his family are humbled by and thankful to each and every one of the musicians involved.”
Half of the artist royalties from the album will be donated to Dublin Simon Community, which provides housing and medical care for people experiencing homelessness.
