The Dropkick Murphys have released their cover of The Pogues‘ “The Body of an American,” for the the upcoming tribute album released in lead singer/songwriter Shane MacGowan‘s memory. We’ve previously covered the release of the Bruce Springsteen song that will be on the record, and the Murphys have released a lyric video to mark this release.
“Dropkick Murphys are honored to be a part of this Shane tribute,” stated frontman Ken Casey. “Shane had a tremendous impact on the members of the band, individually, and on the band as a whole. Shane’s lyrics had such a dark, sometimes twisted, street level reality to them that it was more punk than a lot of punk. ‘The Body of an American’ is a Dropkick all-time favorite and we’ve played it live throughout the years so to get to record it for this tribute was a dream come true.”
The Pogues’ version first appeared on the 1986 Poguery in Motion EP, produced by Elvis Costello. (It was also featured on HBO’s The Wire several notable times, where it was played at the wakes of police officers.) 20th Century Paddy, a tribute to Shane MacGowan will be released on November 13th. Also appearing on the record are Primal Scream, Kate Moss, Glen Hansard, The Libertines, Johnny Depp and Imelda May.
