'Fairytale of New York': We asked New Yorkers to listen to UK's favourite Christmas song and they were baffled

Their reactions are priceless

It's Britain's favourite Christmas song; "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues can be heard on a near-loop in the run-up to Christmas in the UK.

But, despite its title, people in the US are barely aware of it. Instead, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” or Wham!’s “Last Christmas” reign supreme. These sleigh bell-infused hits evoke the spirit of the season - while The Pogues' 1987 offering? Well, not so much.

In The Independent's New York bureau - where Brits and Americans work side-by-side - playing "Fairytale of New York" this season has been met with wide-smiles from those from Blighty, and puzzled faces by their American counterparts.

Lifestyle writer Chelsea Ritschel, and news reporter Emily Shugerman - both from the US - hated it. "I have to be honest, that was awful," remarked Chelsea, after hearing it for the first time. Emily was similarly puzzled: "This is a classic in the UK? I can barely understand what they're saying. I don't get what's going on. And what does this have to do with Christmas? I have so many questions."

It's perhaps no surprise that the sound is a little startling; the song was reportedly created as a result of a bet between Elvis Costello and The Pogues lead singer Shane McGowan, that the frontman couldn't come up with a Christmas record that wasn't slushy.

It was released in 1988 on the album If I Should Fall from Grace with God, and features Kirsty MacColl as the female character on vocals and MacGowan in the role as the male character. The four-and-a-half-minute-long song chronicles the night of a drunk Irish immigrant reflecting on past holidays during Christmas Eve. In the call and response track, the narrator lives in a reverie where he dreams about his female counterpart, which oscillates between harsh and sweet in the lyrics.

It's not overtly about Christmas like a lot of popular holiday songs in America, in fact it’s quite melancholy. It’s nostalgic, yet reflective of alcoholism, addiction and lost love.

So, in search of more American opinions, we took to the streets of Manhattan to play the gritty Christmas favourite to a mixture of New Yorkers. Setting up at the Union Square Holiday Market, we polled everyone from students to retirees, looking for a diverse array of perspectives to see if there were any Americans who'd love The Pogues' classic in the same way as Brits do.

Upon hearing the song in Union Square, The Independent received a slew of mixed reactions. Washington DC resident Amanda Shepherd, 22, didn’t really resonate with the mood of “Fairytale Of New York.”

She said, “It’s definitely less cheery sounding. It definitely sounds like a UK Christmas song.”

Her friend, 22-year-old Danielle Olonoff, was also surprised by the tone. “It’s weird that it’s about New York,” she noted. “It’s definitely not Mariah Carey.”

For Pennsylvania’s Don Garber, 64, the slurred speech of the single didn’t exactly “scream” Christmas to him. “I couldn’t understand any of the words, so I don’t know what they were saying,” he said.

His wife, 57-year-old Kim Garber didn’t understand the track’s connection to New York at all. “I think it should be way, way peppier for it to represent New York City,” she said.

And when we stopped 42-year-old Jeremiah Silkowski, he found some familiarity in the number one song - although not necessarily positive; “It sounds like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Neil Diamond after a very long night. It’s a good melody though.”

Someone even thought it was meant for a different holiday. “I think it’s more of a St. Patrick’s Day song, like, 'Let’s go get f***** up,'" said 19-year-old Cameron Matthews, from California.

We did finally manage to find one Pogues fan, though his reaction was still shocking. Jim, from New Jersey, said, “I think it’s crazy (that it’s the number one song in the UK) because I’ve never heard of it before, and it’s from a band I like,” he said in awe. “That’s unbelievable to me”