I awoke to the news that Shane MacGowan had turned 60 years old.
You may be asking yourself, who is Shane MacGowan? If you don't know, it's not too late. Run out, type his name into the Interweb search browser thingy of your choice and learn. It's best if whichever website you point yourself towards has audio. That's Shane MacGowan. You're welcome.
If you know who he is, you may be asking yourself, how the hell did he make it to 60? Didn't he drink a lot and do a lot of drugs? Yes, he did. He's still alive and he turned 60.
Here is my Shane MacGowan memory: I have actually met the man himself. I got backstage at a Pogues show when I was 15 years old, way back in a time we call the 1980s.
This is not the type of cautionary tale you may be thinking it will be --warning you in advance.
A friend and I were at a triple bill and the Pogues had played second on the bill. We weren't particularly interested in the last band playing, and I loved and love the Pogues. "Let's try to get backstage," I suggested.
How did we get backstage? We asked. We sent word down we'd like to come down and hang out, and they sent word back to come on down.
Cautionary tale number one: never assume that if you ask for something you will be told no.
So here we are, two 15-year old girls about to enter a room full of adult men known for cursing and drinking and playing raucous music. I, being 15 years old, was more nervous about not looking like a complete dork than about anything else. We figured out which room they were in and entered. And guess what happened?
Cautionary tale number two: they were lovely. No one tried anything untoward, and I, for one, had great conversations with them (I can't vouch for my skills, but they were excellent at talking about this and that).
What was Shane MacGowan doing while all of this was going on? Drinking? Shooting up? Smoking crack?
Here's the scenario:
Someone asks me if I want something to drink. I ask, "What do you have?" All they had left was orange soda and cooking sherry. Even at 15, I knew cooking sherry was crap.
I asked for an orange soda.
And Shane MacGowan said he would have what I was having and semi-toasted me.
Cautionary tales numbers three through seven:
- People known for drinking can surprise you.
- People on tour don't necessarily party all the time.
- Don't assume you know someone based on what you've heard.
- Don't judge a person's soul by the number of teeth they have in their head.
They made this 15 year old's lifetime --why I still dredge up old memories because it was a pleasant case of one's heroes not having feet of clay. And so, happy belated 60th birthday to Shane MacGowan. Thank you for the music and thank you for being a clear example of what to do, even if you did indulge a bit from time to time.