If I Should Fall from Grace with God

If I Should Fall from Grace with God
Studio album by The Pogues
Released	June 3, 1987
Genre	Celtic punk, folk punk
Length	51:43
Label	Island
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone link
The Pogues chronology
Poguetry in Motion (1986) If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988) Peace and Love (1989)
Alternate Cover

If I Should Fall from Grace with God is a 1987 album by The Pogues. It reached number 3 in the UK album charts. The album was a departure from previous Pogues albums, which had focused on an Irish folk/punk hybrid, combining musical radicalism with strong commercial appeal. On If I Should Fall From Grace with God several more genres were added to this mixture, including Jazz, Spanish folk and Middle Eastern folk. The adding of Spanish and Middle Eastern sounds was a sign of things to come; on later albums such as 1990's Hell's Ditch these would become the defining sound. On this album, however, it was very much Irish folk to the fore, especially on songs such as the title track, "Bottle of Smoke", "South Australia", "Lullaby of London" and "Sit Down By The Fire", and the rendition of the traditional jig "The Lark in the Morning" as the coda to "Turkish Song Of The Damned". These songs were more typical of the earlier Pogues albums, mostly fast and heavily textured. The album was also the first by the band to utilize a complete drum kit.

Also prominent on the album were the ballads "Thousands are Sailing", "The Broad Majestic Shannon" and especially the Christmas hit, a duet with Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale of New York". "Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six" showed a passionate and angry political side to their music, the first part being about the sorrow a person feels about the streets of Northern Ireland, and the second half about the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, two groups of people wrongly imprisoned for terrorism offences and held in jail. The song also makes a passing reference to the Loughgall Martyrs with the line "while over in Ireland eight more men lay dead, kicked down and shot in the back of the head".

If I Should Fall from Grace with God marked the most substantial line-up change to date for The Pogues, as it was the first full-length album on which multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods and bassist Darryl Hunt appear. It also marked the first departure of one of the original members, former bassist Cait O'Riordan.

The album cover is a montage of photos of the group's members; those pictures imitate the style of the fourth photo from the left, a shot of Irish author James Joyce.

Due to time restriction of a vinyl LP the two tracks "South Australia" and "The Battle March Medley" have been omitted and can be found only on the CD release.

Track listing

Original release

1. "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" (Shane MacGowan) - 2:20
2. "Turkish Song of the Damned" (MacGowan/Jem Finer) - 3:27
3. "Bottle of Smoke" (MacGowan/Finer) - 2:47
4. "Fairytale of New York" (MacGowan/Finer) - 4:36
5. "Metropolis" - 2:50
6. "Thousands Are Sailing" (Phil Chevron) - 5:28
7. "South Australia" (Traditional)† - 3:27
8. "Fiesta" (MacGowan/Finer) - 4:13
9. "Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant/The Rocky Road to Dublin/The Galway Races" (Traditional) - 4:03
10. "Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six" (MacGowan/Terry Woods) - 4:39
11. "Lullaby of London" (MacGowan) - 3:32
12. "The Battle March Medley" (Woods)†
13. "Sit Down by the Fire" (MacGowan) - 4:10
14. "The Broad Majestic Shannon" (MacGowan) - 2:55
15. "Worms" (Traditional) - 1:01

† – CD bonus track, not on vinyl LP

2005 reissue

1. "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" (MacGowan)
2. "Turkish Song of the Damned" (MacGowan/Finer)
3. "Bottle of Smoke" (MacGowan/Finer)
4. "Fairytale of New York" (MacGowan/Finer)
5. "Metropolis"
6. "Thousands Are Sailing" (Chevron)
7. "Fiesta" (MacGowan/Finer)
8. "Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant/The Rocky Road to Dublin/The Galway Races" (Traditional)
9. "Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six" (MacGowan/Woods)
10. "Lullaby of London" (MacGowan)
11. "Sit Down by the Fire" (MacGowan)
12. "The Broad Majestic Shannon" (MacGowan)
13. "Worms" (Traditional)
14. "The Battle March Medley" (Woods)
15. "The Irish Rover" (Joseph Crofts/Traditional)†
16. "Mountain Dew" (Traditional)†
17. "Shanne Bradley" (MacGowan)†
18. "Sketches of Spain" (The Pogues)†
19. "South Australia" (Traditional)

† – bonus track, not on original release

Personnel

• Shane MacGowan - vocals, guitar
• Spider Stacy - tin whistle, vocals
• James Fearnley - accordion, piano, mandolin, dulcimer, guitar, cello, percussion
• Jem Finer - banjo, saxophone
• Andrew Ranken - drums, vocals
• Philip Chevron - guitar, mandolin
• Darryl Hunt - bass, percussion, vocals
• Terry Woods - cittern lute, concertina, strings, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, vocals
• Ron Kavana - banjo, spoons, mandolin
• Siobhan Sheahan - harp
• Brian Clarke - alto saxophone
• Joe Cashman - tenor saxophone
• Paul Taylor - trombone
• Chris Lee - trumpet
• Eli Thompson - trumpet