Before you listen to this song (again), read Nick Cave’s take on why it is so great.

[Verse 1: Shane MacGowan]
 It was Christmas Eve, babe
 In the drunk tank
 An old man said to me
 "Won't see another one"
 And then he sang a song
 'The Rare Old Mountain Dew'
 I turned my face away
 And dreamed about you
 
 [Verse 2: Shane MacGowan]
 Got on a lucky one
 Came in eighteen-to-one
 I've got a feeling
 This year's for me and you
 So, Happy Christmas
 I love you, baby
 I can see a better time
 When all our dreams come true
 
 [Verse 3: Kirsty MacColl]
 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
 When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve
 You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
 
 [Verse 4: Kirsty MacColl & Shane MacGowan  & Together]
 You were handsome!
 You were pretty, Queen of New York City
 When the band finished playing
 They howled out for more
 Sinatra was swinging
 All the drunks, they were singing
 We kissed on a corner
 Then danced through the night
 
 [Chorus: Shane Macgowan & Kirsty MacColl]
 The boys of the NYPD choir
 Were singing, "Galway Bay"
 And the bells were ringing out
 For Christmas Day
 
 [Verse 5: Kirsty MacColl & Shane MacGowan]
 You're a bum, you're a punk
 You're an old slut on junk
 Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
 You scumbag, you maggot
 You cheap, lousy faggot
 Happy Christmas, your arse
 I pray God it's our last
 
 [Chorus: Shane Macgowan & Kirsty MacColl]
 The boys of the NYPD choir
 Still singing, "Galway Bay"
 And the bells are ringing out
 For Christmas Day
 
 [Verse 6: Kirsty MacColl & Shane MacGowan]
 "I could have been someone"
 Well, so could anyone
 You took my dreams from me
 When I first found you
 I kept them with me, babe
 I put them with my own
 Can't make it all alone
 I've built my dreams around you
 
 [Outro: Shane Macgowan & Kirsty MacColl]
 The boys of the NYPD choir
 Still singing, "Galway Bay"
 And the bells are ringing out
 For Christmas Day