what an underrated band.

This is 'Thousands are sailing'. A song about Irish immigrants going to America. Its fucking brilliant.

The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save

Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime

Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry

Ah, no, says he, twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name

Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the western ocean
Their bellies full
Their spirits free
Theyll break the chains of poverty
And theyll dance

In manhattans desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on broadway
Like the first man on the moon

And the blackbird broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in brendan behans footsteps
I danced up and down the street

Then we said goodnight to broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to mister cohen
Dear old times squares favorite bard

Then we raised a glass to jfk
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried

Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards were mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights dont glow on christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance

Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where eer we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
And we dance

was written by Phil Chevron not Shane MacGowan (great song though) and 'Dirty Old Town' was written by Ewan MacCall not Kirsty.
The Pogues first three albums are all you need as evidence of MacGowan's talent. I think his gradual decent after that is one of the truly sad tales in music; he always seemed to buy into that romantic myth of the fallen literary boozer like his hero Brendan Behan. Funnily enough, because MacGowan was such a 'character',the rest of the band barely get a mention which is dreadful really....Terry Woods, Chevron, Cait O'Riordan and Jem Finer are all great musicians. Lyrically, my personal fave is "A rainy Night In Soho"

Jem Finer now does amazing music/art projects, including an installation which makes music out of the weather and a composition designed to last a thousand years:

http://www.scoreforaholeintheground.org
http://longplayer.org

A Pair of Brown Eyes is in a class of its own. His voice in the early years was really underrated too (though it's now shot to bits) the way he sings the line "there was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me" kills me every time.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Sickbed of Cuchulainn

My vote goes to the beautiful ‘Broad Majestic Shannon’. It’s a stunning piece of work.