Fairytale of New York was named after the novel of the same name, by J. P. Dunleavy, and Shane named the song after it was written. Both the book and the novel adress the same subject: New York's hollow dream and the emptyness that belies the showy lifestyle of its inhabitents. So yes, this is a love song, but it is much more than that, hence the line: 'They've got cars big as bars/They've got rivers of gold/But the wind goes right through you/It's no place for the old.' He promised this woman a paradise which never existed, and though they've lived to an old age they still blame themselves and eachother for the theft of a dream that will always be unattainable.
Fairytale of New York was named after the novel of the same name, by J. P. Dunleavy, and Shane named the song after it was written. Both the book and the novel adress the same subject: New York's hollow dream and the emptyness that belies the showy lifestyle of its inhabitents. So yes, this is a love song, but it is much more than that, hence the line: 'They've got cars big as bars/They've got rivers of gold/But the wind goes right through you/It's no place for the old.' He promised this woman a paradise which never existed, and though they've lived to an old age they still blame themselves and eachother for the theft of a dream that will always be unattainable.