Shane MacGowan wrote another great Christmas song

Christmas Lullaby was released in 1996

Listen to Shane all year round. (Masao Nakagami)

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Nobody wrote better songs than Shane MacGowan.

Fairytale of New York is rightly regarded as his masterpiece. The version of it performed at Shane’s funeral was truly magnificent.

Yet it is often forgotten that Shane was responsible for another ballad about the festive season.

Christmas Lullaby was released in 1996 and it should really be played on the radio along with Fairytale.

Both manage to be plaintive and life-affirming. Both are rough-edged yet romantic.

In Fairytale, a couple bicker but come to the conclusion that they still love and need each other: “I built my dreams around you.”

Christmas Lullaby is addressed to the child of a heavy drinker.

“I hope you grow up brave and strong,” it says. “Not like me, all weak and sad.”

It is often claimed that Shane’s songs are timeless. The claim is only partly correct.

The Pogues reflected the experiences and the attitudes of Irish people living in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.

It is unlikely that their unique blend of folk and punk could have emerged in a different era. Nor was it surprising that the Thatcher government imposed a broadcast ban on their track The Birmingham Six.

Christmas Lullaby was released as a lengthy period of Tory rule neared its end and featured Shane’s then band The Popes.

Although it is not explicitly political, there are messages in it which remain pertinent.

“It’s Christmas time in Palestine,” it notes.

Over the past few months, Israel has repeatedly attacked churches and mosques while committing a genocide in Gaza.

Bethlehem, the city of Christ’s birth, is regularly subjected to raids by its brutal occupiers.

Many Irish people feel a strong affinity with the Palestinians.

As I explored in my book Balfour’s Shadow, we have both paid the price for Britain’s imperial machinations. During the first few decades of the 20th century, we were literally oppressed by the same forces, even the same individuals.

Like the Irish, the Palestinians are scattered around the world through no fault of their own. Like the Irish, the Palestinians have what Shane MacGowan called a “furious devotion” to their homeland.

Shane MacGowan encapsulated the experiences of Irish people living abroad better than anyone else.

The best way to remember him is by checking out all his recordings and all his lyrics.

Yes, he used that unforgettable phrase “happy Christmas, your arse.”

But he also observed that “it’s Christmas time in Palestine.”