ORIGINAL VERSUS COVER: PART ELEVEN, DIRTY OLD TOWN
Ewan MacColl: Here is my next post in the series in which I'll argue that the cover is better than the original version of the song. This time I'm going to compare Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's original version and The Pogues' cover version of the song, Dirty Old Town . Dirty Old Town song was written by Ewan MacColl in 1949. The song is about Salford, an industrial town and now a city neighbouring Manchester. This is the second time I've picked on Ewan MacColl in this series, clearly I don't like folk songs. Featuring his wife Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl recorded a version of the song he wrote. Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's Dirty Old Town : However, it was The Dubliners' cover version of Dirty Old Town , released in 1968, that the song gained prominence. The Dubliners were a popular Irish folk band. I've never been into Irish folk music or even Irish music generally. It's the mysticism and the romanticism that rub me up the wrong way. The Du...