# A few songs to remember Kirsty MacColl **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693 "2011-12-19T01:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/1 "2011-12-19T01:09:11Z")
Kirsty [died](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsty_MacColl) 11 years ago today. If you can spare a few minutes (or more), hear what the world is missing by the loss of this wonderful songwriter/singer/human being. I was lucky enough to meet her twice, interview her for my radio show and see her in concert twice (in that cropped Wikipedia page photo, I’m actually standing right next to her). She was so nice, funny and interesting, and such a great talent. She died saving her sons from a speeding motorboat and has never received justice for her murder. Many people only know of her from her voice in [Fairytale of New York](http://youtu.be/Pv0hlbWpa1w) (or perhaps her song [“They Don’t Know,”](http://youtu.be/1byhkWlWnQs) covered by [Tracy Ullman](http://youtu.be/9UvlKzEhAaE)), but she was so much more, an intelligent, interesting and often humorous and sarcastic songwriter. Every song meant something. She got better and better and we’ll never know what we’ve missed out on. She was always experimenting with different styles and seemed to be always years ahead of her time. [“Angel”](http://youtu.be/tpSpv7QDqkM) [“My Affair”](http://youtu.be/ws6bK2xL9pU) [“Days”](http://youtu.be/wOLbw46O5wk) (kinks cover) [“The Hardest Word”](http://youtu.be/Uf7gNjosDH0) [“Children of the Revolution”](http://youtu.be/wsD6E3moZUc) [“Innocence”](http://youtu.be/NS1bkU5-b4w) [“Halloween”](http://youtu.be/dWUAB9gzwwE) [“Walking Down Madison”](http://youtu.be/26Iibcz2lE0) [“Free World”](http://youtu.be/ZxG5p57ZW9s) [“He Never Mentioned Love”](http://youtu.be/h4EI5hXa6uk) [“Soho Square”](http://youtu.be/thaiW9bfBM4) [“Last Day of Summer”](http://youtu.be/0jJ3CbOj4Rs) [“Can’t Stop Killing You”](http://youtu.be/jKSBdmC8CVg) (live) [“Don’t Come The Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim”](http://youtu.be/L7ieij6JPiw) [“Titanic Days”](http://youtu.be/0pXTl0sQbhQ) [“Miss Otis Regrets”](http://youtu.be/neGSSuwdykc) (with The Pogues) (a [live](http://youtu.be/N4sZUfQ97po) version, and an audio-only version of the full [“Miss Otis Regrets/Just One Of Those Things”](http://youtu.be/A9Pn_sxL4oQ)) There are so many more. So many. We miss you Kirsty. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/2 "2011-12-19T01:14:37Z")
Yeah, she was great. It’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/3 "2011-12-19T07:31:01Z")
A colossal tragedy. Too many musicians die of their own stupidity, while this genius songwriter is killed by someone else’s stupidity, and sacrifices her own life to save her children. She should have been a hundred time better known. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/4 "2011-12-19T09:11:57Z")
[A New England](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v4a6NaU5Rg) w/ Billy Bragg. I name this one because I probably listened to it 100 times over the past few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/5 "2011-12-19T16:05:57Z")
My favorite: [“In These Shoes?”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjvaqVAFuLI) ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/6 "2011-12-19T17:21:40Z")
I’ve always been partial to [He’s On the Beach](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EV5pNowizQ). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-songs-to-remember-kirsty-maccoll/606693/7 "2011-12-19T20:22:45Z")
[England 2 Colombia 0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7vsoVR5NX4) [There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL2GmaI3Xus)