Shane MacGowan

Shane MacGowan “You know, some people are lucky, and some people aren’t. I’m a lucky guy, as a general rule.”

“I was brought up on a farm and then in London. In their own different ways both places offer plenty of opportunity to get in trouble. I took the opportunities.”

“You’ve got to have a strong urge to be heard. You’ve got to have this welling up inside you, like wanting to be sick, you know?  Then you’ve got to scream it out, you’ve got to sing it out, you’ve got to play it out, you’ve got to make music, you know what I mean? That’s what a musician is. A good musician has to put music before everything.”

“I’m proud of everything the Irish do well…. What a talented race. I’m proud to be one of them. Great sportsmen, great soldiers, great musicians, great lovers, great artists. Nobody loves like an Irishman. And women always find Irishmen attractive. I think women are attracted by the fact that Irishmen are so much more intelligent than Englishmen. That’s a bit of a generalisation of course. There are some glaring exceptions to that rule... There’s no bigger bastard than an Irish bastard.”

“I don’t agree with dogmatic morality.... I’m a Catholic Taoist. I believe in going with the flow. I’m a hedonist. I like to live well. I like to eat and drink and dance and sing and screw and get the most out of life. When I’m just enjoying myself completely, that’s when I feel the most religious as well. Because I thank God for it, for pleasure. Because there’s so much pain in this world. I think you should have as much pleasure as you possibly can.”

Nick Cave “‘Shane is very innocent in a lot of ways. There’s a love and warmth within him which is often overlooked. And he is incredibly open to the things around him, which is why he’s such a great writer. He sees the beauty and horror in things, and his gift is to be able to articulate that in a very simple way.”

Depp “Shane and Marlon Brando. These are two guys who are completely true to their vision, non-conforming, uncompromising. I think Marlon is an incredibly gifted artist… in his thoughts, ideas and anything he does. Shane’s the same. They’re a couple of guys whose first instinct is always to go against the grain, it’s an admirable trait in anyone.” 

Bono “I don’t think anyone writes better lyrics than Shane MacGowan. He’s what Keith Richards would describe as a ‘specialist’.“