Rainy Night In Soho

Album: Poguetry in Motion EP (1986)
Charted: 67
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • A love song written by lead singer Shane MacGowan, this is one of the most popular Pogues songs and was included in every setlist from their reformation in 2001 to their final performance on August 9, 2014.
  • This is the song where Shane MacGowan and producer Elvis Costello fell out with each other during the final mix. Costello wanted to keep an oboe on the song and MacGowan a flugelhorn (a kind of trumpet). MacGowan got his way and Costello later washed his hands of the recording.

    Eventually the song was released in three versions: with the flugelhorn on the original English release and with the oboe on the American/Canadian release. Five years later in 1991 the third version of the song - a remix with new overdubs, produced by Steve Lillywhite - was released containing elements of both oboe and flugelhorn.
  • Nick Cave - an admirer of Shane MacGowan's writing - recorded this song in 1992 and released it as a B-side. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Christian - Copenhagen, Denmark, for all above
  • Cave sang the song again at MacGowan's funeral on December 8, 2023, with slightly altered lyrics. Cave sang: "Now this song is over. We'll never find out what it means," instead of the original: "Now this song is nearly over. We many never find out what it means."
  • Shane MacGowan received a diagnosis of pneumonia three hours before the band were due on-stage in Malmo, Sweden. During a couple of precious free weeks recuperating at his one-bedroom flat in King's Cross, London, he penned "Rainy Night In Soho."

    "I wrote that in one night," he told his biographer Ann Scanlon. "When you're out of your head and a song as finely honed and as lyrically polished as that comes out in the time it takes to write it, you know that something has helped you to do it." (source: Mojo magazine).

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."