- Music
- 05 Nov 26
Glen Hansard on covering 'Bottle Of Smoke': "It's The Pogues doing their punk thing"
The single is the first posthumous release by Hansard, following his death in July.
A video of the late Glen Hansard discussing his cover of The Pogues' 'Bottle Of Smoke' has been released on Instagram. His cover of the song is for the upcoming tribute album, 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan.
Hansard said the track was "one of those songs from If I Should Fall from Grace with God that I always just loved.
"'Bottle of Smoke' is just The Pogues doing their punk thing, and I love the idea of just a mouthful of words.
"I always loved that phrase '20 fucking five to one/Me gambling days are done/I bet on a horse called the "Bottle of smoke"/And my horse won'."
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Released as a single on October 30, Hansard's version features The Pogues' James Fearnley on accordion, as well as contributions from DUG's Jonny Pickett, Séamus Ong, Mary-Aoife Ong, Rob Bochnik , Joseph Doyle, Ruth O'Mahony Brady, Gareth Quinn Redmond and Tim Neuhaus.
'Bottle Of Smoke' originally featured on The Pogues' third album, If I Should Fall from Grace with God, released in 1988.
Glen Hansard died on July 29, at the age of 56, following a road traffic accident in Dublin. Many of his fellow contributors on 20th Century Paddy performed at his funeral including Lisa O'Neill, Damien Dempsey, Liam Ó Maonlaí, and U2's Bono and the Edge.
20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan is out Friday, November 13, via Rubyworks. It features Bruce Springsteen, Hozier, U2, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Imelda May, David Gray, The Libertines, Shane’s former bandmates in The Pogues, and more.
Listen to Glen Hansard's rendition of 'Bottle of Smoke' below:
