Nick Cave paid tribute to the late Shane MacGowan during The Pogues frontman’s funeral on Friday, December 8th, by covering the band’s 1986 song “A Rainy Night in Soho.” Watch the heartfelt performance below.
Produced by Elvis Costello, “A Rainy Night in Soho” originally appeared on The Pogues’ Poguetry in Motion EP. Cave later recorded a cover of the song for What a Wonderful World, a 1992 split EP with MacGowan. That track would later appear on the 2005 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds compilation B-Sides & Rarities.
Elsewhere during MacGowan’s funeral, Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill gave a rousing performance of “Fairytale of New York,” and The Pogues reunited to play “The Parting Glass.” And as funeral procession made its way through Dublin, mourners sung some of his iconic songs.
MacGowan died on Thursday, November 30th at the age of 65 from what was later revealed to be complications from pneumonia and viral encephalitis. Cave was one of many musicians to pay tribute to the singer, calling him “a true friend and the greatest songwriter of his generation.”
Cave later published a lengthier statement in his Red Hand Files newsletter, in which he wrote: “Shane was not revered just for his manifold talents but also loved for himself alone. A beautiful and damaged man, who embodied a kind of purity and innocence and generosity and spiritual intelligence unlike any other.”
See further tributes to MacGowan from Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, and Bono, and read our very own Jonah Krueger’s essay on”Fairytale of New York,” the quintessential Christmas song for punks, drunks, and everyone else whose rough around the edges.