The Pogues » Tracks » Dirty Old Town

The Pogues – Dirty Old Town (3:45)

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About This Track

“Dirty Old Town” is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 that was made popular by The Dubliners, & recorded by The Pogues for their 2nd album, Rum Sodomy & The Lash.

The song was written in reference to Salford, Lancashire, England, the city where Ewan MacColl was brought up. Salford is, in fact, a city. When he first wrote the song, the local council were unhappy at having Salford called a dirty old town and, after considerable criticism, the words of the song were changed from “smelled a Spring on the Salford wind” to “smelled a spring on the smoky wind”. The Spinners made the first popular recording of the song and they sang “Salford wind”. This was hardly surprising as the lead singer on the track was Mick Groves, a Salfordian. It was originally composed for an interlude to cover an awkward scene change in Ewan MacColl’s Salford-set, 1949 play Landscape with Chimneys, but with the growing popularity of folk music the song became a standard.

The song paints an evocative yet ultimately bitter picture of industrial Northern England, and presages to some extent the Angry Young Man school of the 1950s.

Because of the song’s association with The Dubliners and The Pogues, most people tend to think of it as an Irish song, indeed, in Ireland the lyrics are popularly thought to refer to Dublin. Many people, even in England, are surprised to hear that the song was written by a Lancastrian of Scottish descent.
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  • Monade2010

    ° ƸӜƷ °...♥¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨) .•` *♥.•*¨*•♫♪...° ƸӜƷ °

    12 days ago

  • Monade2010

    my GREAT travel bug:•*¨*•♫♪... ♥ ♥ ♥

    15 days ago

  • AgentHetfield

    Howled this so many times on my way to the Eldorado Pub.

    18 days ago

  • si1808

    probably the best song written... Ever!!!

    last month

  • hanginchili

    Salford!

    February 2012

  • SuperA7X

    Great track. Love that solo!

    January 2012

  • Kateopolis

    sounds like memories...good ones

    January 2012

  • pahachowa

    Cyberpub!

    January 2012

  • Heavenlywaters

    Everytime I listen to this song, it reminds me of Red Dead Revolver for some reason.

    January 2012

  • Landon_Way

    I simply love this song.

    January 2012

  • iggyblog

    dirty old tooooooooown.....

    December 2011

  • rigelthe16th

    hic-cough ;) lovely

    November 2011

  • harmer227

    just brilliant love this song

    October 2011

  • Foggster

    this isn't just a song...this is a hymn

    October 2011

  • rikrijean

    sooo nice.....I love that song..........

    October 2011

  • bluebellinbloom

    Winderful! <3

    October 2011

  • ReducedCapacity

    Beautiful English folk song

    September 2011

  • Legantipapa99

    Wonderful and emotional...

    August 2011

  • mcrawford42

    Probably one of the most beautiful tracks ever factory walled

    August 2011

  • sirthorty

    cool tune...

    June 2011
See all 190 shouts

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