35 years ago today: The Pogues released Hell's Ditch

Originally published in Hot Press in 1990:

"No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything." - Oscar Wilde, preface to The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1891)

"Life's a bitch, then you die. Black hell." - Shane McGowan, Hell's Ditch (1990).

If The Pogues' latest album is a window to the soul of its main author, then Shane MacGowan is truly in the horrors. Was he not always so? Well, no. Listen, again to 'The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn' (humour), 'A Pair Of Brown Eyes' (hope), and 'Fairytale Of New York' (love).

Now, however, with Hell's Ditch, Shane has finally discarded the last vestiges of covert optimism and plunged deep into a bottomless pit of sardonic resignation.

Producer Joe Strummer (like all good producers, soccer referees, editors etc) is unobtrusive, standing well back as The Pogues' frontman staggers to the microphone, spitting and snarling his way through a colourful series of cinematic word pictures. Take 'Rain Street' for instance: "There's a Tesco on the sacred ground/where I pulled her knickers down/while Judas took his measly price/and St. Anthony gazed in awe at Christ.../I gave my love a goodnight kiss/I tried to take a late night piss/But the toilet moved so again I missed/ Down Rain Street."

A Far-Eastern sojourn, whether real or imagined, inspires three of Shane's nine compositions – the beautiful lilting strains of 'Summer in Siam'; the slightly countryish 'Sayonara', where much Mekhong whiskey is imbibed; and 'House Of The Gods' ("Just a wally hanging out on Pattaya Beach").

Other highlights include the ironic 'Sunny Side Of The Street' (shades of The Clash's 'Safe European Home'), 'Lorca's Novena', where the eponymous poet is murdered – "(they) blew his brains out with a pistol up his arse" - and the title track 'Hell's Ditch', a children's nursery rhyme of particularly dark intent: "Genet's feeling Ramon's dick/The guy in the bunk above gets sick/In the cell next door the lunatic/Starts screaming for his mother..."

Listen without prejudice indeed. Hell's Ditch has its charms.

– Paul Cleary

Joe Strummer:

On playing with The Pogues and producing Hell's Ditch

"The only reason that I ended up playing with The Pogues is that I'm a soft touch. Phil Chevron, who's a better rhythm guitarist than I'll ever be, fell ill before they were due to go to the States and they asked me would I fill in. The Clash had just exploded, so I thought Fuck it, why not?

"I did my bit depping for him, and then later on when Shane got sick, I received my second S.O.S. The thing with The Pogues is that they couldn't afford to cancel a tour. They had 17 people with wives, mortgages and expensive sexual fetishes to maintain. So when Jem said to me in Los Angeles, 'Er, would you dep for Shane on this world tour, thanks', what could I do other than learn the fucking lyrics? I know you're dubious about this, but anyone can get into 'Dirty Old Town' and 'The Broad Majestic Shannon' cos they're such great songs.

"Then it came to recording Hell's Ditch and every producer in London town turned them down because they were frightened. Five days before they were meant to start working on it in Rockfield, Frank Murray rang up and said, 'Look, all these bastards have given us the bum's rush. The studio's booked, will you save our arses and do it?' I tell you, we had a ball! It was the middle of the summer, so we had the doors open and half the gear set up on the grass. Most of it was done live, with even fucking Spider getting his act together. I defy any proto-folk punk band to better it!"

Read the full 1999 interview here.

Shane MacGowan:

On how the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca influenced Hell's Ditch

“‘Lorca's Novena' is a direct rip-off of [Lorca's 1935 poem] ‘Lament For Ignacio Sanchez Mejias’. And ‘Fiesta’. After spending five weeks in Spain I realised Lorca was as important as Joyce, Yeats, Kavanagh or O’Carolan in Ireland.”

Read the full 2004 interview here.