Kirsty - The Life And Songs Of Kirsty MacColl

Documentary chronicling the life of Kirsty MacColl. Featuring contributions from amongst others, Billy Bragg, Bono, Shane MacGowan, Johnny Marr, French & Saunders and Steve Lillywhite.
Kirsty's mother Jean has written a biography of Kirsty called Sun On The Water published by John Blake books.

[@nojimmyprotested601]

I wasn't even born yet when Kirsty died, but her music means so much to me and it's genuinely so sad that poor Kirsty only got to live for 41 years, and that her killers were not brought to justice. I can't get over the fact that the courts valued her life at £61. Such a beautiful person inside and out, RIP Kirsty, so many people love and miss you so much ❤😢

[@CarlieMaria28]

I was 2 months old when she died and Fairytale of New York is one of my fav Christmas songs!

[@larryotoole933]

God bless Kristy she was a great singer and beautiful lady and the Pogues were so much better with her.RIP you beautiful soul.

[@styepen602]

I wasn’t either, Kirsty was a great singer, and provided the second lead vocal for the greatest Christmas song ever!, it’s nice to see people still love her!

[@peggyseeger7363]

An excellent and accurate documentary of a one-off, a national treasure, capable of writing songs that are different from each other yet all keenly demonstrating her unique talent as a singer and a songwriter. You've sailed away but you're never forgotten, Kirsty.

[@cazb877]

All those songs she wrote 30 years ago still resonate today if not more so. A true artist, much missed 😢

[@taraalan1131]

A wonderful woman, like her strong ,loving mother. What a talent- sadly lost to us all. Heart breaking.. Sickening lack of clarity in the investigation.

[@leejackson2601]

Can’t believe it’s been 20 years, such a talent, so admired her as both a singer and songwriter. Feel really choked watching this, why do we do we have to lose the best.

[@mariagallagher6358]

Yes thanks Kirsty for the music .

[@doomranger6047]

I found out about Kirsty actually a year after she had passed. I was in a Tower Records and they were playing "Tropical Brainstorm". I was only half paying attention, but the songs started drawing me in. I was like " Oh, that was a good song....oh that's a good song too...oh wait a minute... every song is good. I asked who was playing and I bought the album right away. It became an album that I played over and over and over. It is now one of my desert albums (an appropriate one at that). Over the years I have discovered different albums from her career (kite, titanic days etc) and it has been a wealth of amazing songwriting. I always put her music on when I'm having a hard time, because her music is at once happy and funny but also sad and so honest about the psyche of the human animal. Kirsty... I never knew you when you were alive. But, I am so grateful that you once walked the earth and left behind these wonderful songs!

[@tonyconnaghan5508]

I learned about her through her dad and the pogues..big fan of both...rip Christy

[@sidneybarrett8941]

I heard a review of "Tropical Brainstorm" on the radio and went out and bought it immediately. Then my heart was broken when I learned that she was already gone.

[@lunis471]

@@sidneybarrett8941 sorry your heart was broken i hope its okay now 😊

[@doomranger6047]

@the machinist Those 2 albums are definitely my favorites. It's a tough call as to which is better. But, ultimately I have to disagree and say Tropical Brainstorm is the better album. Where "kite" is a collection of brilliant songs "TB" has brilliant songs that also flows together as a complete statement of an album. Also, the fact that it is such a joyful record I really hope that she found some well deserved happiness in her final years. Although it has some sad songs too. You can tell she discovered that you need the sadness to appreciate the happiness. I mean listen to the way Alegria flows into that fantastic guitar riff at the beginning of Us , Amazonians. It almost hurts the heart with how joyful it is. But of course it's all subjective!

[@billhicks6070]

Well said Rain: 'her music is at once happy and funny but also sad and so honest'. Also timeless. The mark of a true genius. I also have come to a full appreciation of her very late. Or maybe music just speaks to you when the time is right. It's so heartbreaking that her talent wasn't fully appreciated when she was alive. And the nature of her untimely death just so devastating. She seemed to be such a nice, ego-less person. I was unaware of the breadth and quality of her output until recently. So varied. I mean, 'Don't Go Home' is a stone cold ambient classic that could have been written yesterday. It destroys me.

[@kyawkyawwin1]

Very sad. A true talent who died saving her son. RIP.

[@pedropenalver4845]

I met her in person. She spent 15 days in my city and in my house back in the mid 90s with her sons when I used to live in Cuba. He had met earlier and since the day we met, i realized how blessed i was to have her as my friend. My favorite song: Thank you for the day. Since her death, I’ve been left with the sad recurring look of old pics we cherished. Our favorite pass time was snorkeling off the coast of Matanzas, near Varadero and walking to meet people. I guess that’s where she got her inspiration.

[@christophertudor4727]

Beautiful eyes, beautiful face, beautiful voice and a stupendous talent for song-writing and storytelling. Kirsty was an absolute Stradivarius amongst ordinary violins! Thank you Kirsty for your contribution to the music world and for enhancing my life personally. Wherever you are, I raise a glass to you and keep them entertained Xxx.

[@andyhodgson7692]

Lovely heartfelt tribute. If Kirsty was opinionated then so am I and I think that the 8 people who pressed thumbs down are idiots.

[@marymcmullen5150]

I think the same and I will always hear her that way. She was a beauty and will always be in the soul of the Pogues and true England. I am Irish.

[@stephenmaskrey6527]

Your absolutely right , there are always people who have any appreciation of talent

[@anatprag4743]

As a teen 30 years ago Kirsty was my idol. Almost 20 years since she passed, the only thing that has changed was how her poor children have coped with the lost, her music remains in the hearts and minds of those she touched

[@alspeed4857]

Thanks for posting this documentary. Just makes me miss her even more. Anybody who can frighten Keith Richards is capable of ruling the world. A brilliant songwriter and singer with a phenomenal sense of humor. What's not to love.

[@RaminTork]

She was simply wonderful.

[@dominewimbury2039]

A New England is my favourite song by her. It was in the charts when I was born. Can't believe how different her singing voice sounds to her speaking voice. RIP

[@ndorphin2564]

Love her songs.. In New Zealand in 2019, I (a Brit) was on an intercity coach, a Latina boarded after kissing her boyfriend (wearing a Colombia t-shirt) goodbye. She sat across the aisle to me. I played England 2 Colombia 0 on my beat box 😮 Impressed… “Hey Amigo what is that song called??!!” I drink at that pub in Belsize Park

[@dlawss]

My lovely friend from Selsdon,Croydon,you were such a lovely teenager.Kirsty was at Heath Clark school when I met her and went to Croydon college and was in a group called Drug Addix. R.I.P Kirsty xxxx

[@andrewbutcher3391]

She was brilliant....I loved her music....This is a great tribute to her....Very missed.....

[@BaddaBigBoom]

Enough has been said here to commemorate her amazing impact on the world of music but I will add that she is one of my favourite singer/songwriters of all time. I left an epitaph on the front of a beach front bar in Cozumel with the marker pen provided shortly after her loss to the world. I will never forget where I was and when I heard the tragic news. The old cliché stands: her music will live on.

[@caveatemp]

Thanks for the good cry. I remember seeing her at a little club in Chicago. We were all waiting patiently for her to go on. There was a woman standing next to me and although I'd seen plenty of pictures of her I didn't realize it was Kirsty. She was so unassuming. Not a rock star at all. I remember she was so amazed that we all knew her songs so well. When she sang Innocence the whole crowd screamed "Big Money!" at the appropriate moment and she was so surprised. I don't think she knew just how much she was loved.

[@MidWestConcertVideo2]

If you're talking about the show at the Double Door, I just put that up. She introduced "They Don't Know" by saying "God Bless Tracy Ullman!" kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKPLgaytodGdhZo

[@alank247]

This really brings back memories. Kirsty's music was part of the soundtrack of my teenage years and, she is till an active part of my playlist today. Her death was such a senseless tragedy. What a beautiful voice from a genuine and lovely lady...what a terrible loss. RIP Kirsty,

[@brucelynn5714]

Kirsty's songs make me cry... every time.

[@anthonybrady-lb5ve]

Yes. Lets put Kirsty forward for posthumous entry into the Hall of fame. Come on folks. Lets get the ball rolling on that 🎸🎷❤❤

[@harrychristopher8424]

Have only found this incredible lady a few weeks back singing the chip shop song She certainly was talented I now have downloaded lots of her music

[@davidmattey7487]

My God what a coward I have been. Just mustering the bravery to watch my lovely friend having avoided the pain for such a long time . Kirsty would be 60 years old now or 61? I walked to her house at Christmas in 1976 we exchanged gifts.mine was an album which she signed with a message . When my Mum chucked out my record collection her cherished signature and message were gone for ever. RIP KM

[@jehugo66]

I never realized how involved and influential Kirsty was in the bands I loved throughout the 80s: The Smiths, Billy Bragg-and that she set the track order of The Joshua Tree (last U2 album I bought) which is an absolutely iconic Album set-a Real Album.

[@andrewmortimer6521]

Amazing talent taken too early. This version of Miss Otis Regrets is incredible. I can never forget the disbelief of hearing what had happened nearly 20 years ago and how I woke up to Polly and Grant on 91ZM here in New Zealand relaying this tragic news.

[@patdiamond7042]

Fantastic life force, Kirsty reminds me so much of my departed sister, except my sister could not hold a note! RIP to both you lovely ladies xx

[@jasonpeters9390]

2020 Gone but not forgotten

[@robinmalone3387]

Thank you for posting this. RIP Kirsty MacColl. Called home to soon. Awesome talent.

[@susanmillar3455]

Remembering her 23 years ago tomorrow on my fiancé's 68th birthday. May she rest in peace.

[@JoshDone]

I miss you so much, Kirsty. This makes me weep.

[@Bigbird108]

She should be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

[@PEChgo1]

Part of me says yes, absolutely, on the merit of her work - she should be recognized in some way. And part of me thinks the smug boys club of the RRHOF is the kind of club where Kirsty would never want to be a member!

[@AlisongsLA]

Kite was an extraordinary record,one of my top ten favorites. Just perfect!

[@1bridlington]

R.I.P. Kirsty..you was great...

[@AlisongsLA]

She is one of my musical soulmates. To learn that she also had a father who had tunnel vision, explains a lot. Wish I'd followed my heart the way she did. She remains one of my favorite songwriters of all time.

[@suzannemortimer9752]

What a beautiful lady with a beautiful voice. RIP Kistie

[@vienna227]

Wonderful Kirsty. So sad about the bitter nature of her accident. She has a memorial bench in Soho Square...I don’t live too far. I am going to make a trip there one day. (Nice to see Cerys here too...another unique voice) ❤️

[@colmmeade1824]

We'll have to get one for the two of them

[@rebirthaudio2023]

Such an amazing talent. RIP Kirsty, your music continues to provide so much inspiration.

[@heartoftoledo1560]

Just came here cause I needed a good cry today! I was playing 'Kite' when I found out she had died. Can't believe it was 16 years ago.

[@tonyconnaghan5508]

Kristy

[@karengill1724]

in these shoes is my favorite song! what a loss to the world.

[@kevindavies2066]

Kirsty is pure perfection.

[@wk4max]

WE LOVE YOU KIRSTY, (RIP)

[@sharonsheehy3128]

She had an awesome voice, and extraordinary talent,,

[@gaynordurdy7689]

Darling kirsty, fly like a kite, an absolute treasure

[@tommac2534]

Kirstý, thank you for the day's

[@roseaanodowd4105]

She was beautiful and very talented

[@rubyrest]

Love her music especially ‘New England’. A genuine brilliant Artist.

[@neilrogers5912]

It was pure poetry set to music , genius ! I miss Kirsty and the music .

[@seamusmalarkey759]

I'm an american boy born in '79 an I love Kirsty MacColl

[@frankcarmack1442]

Such a GREAT singer AND songwriter. Her voice cut make you laugh, cry, could cut like a knife. Her red tresses...I bought IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE OF GOD, just hearing "Fairytail of NY on NPR. Also, the song, "Lorelei." Simply amazing. I loved KITE and ELECTRIC LANDLADY and extra tracks on GALORE. Having lost a Son, it pains me that those boys grew up without their Mom. But her music and the causes she believed in are there 24/7....at least we have that much

[@stephenmaskrey6527]

absolutely loved her music such a great sadness to loose such a talented woman, I'm sure many people love listening to her voice and amazing Music.

[@wildcatkelly1966]

You were awesome, Kirsty. RIP

[@larryotoole933]

She was absolutely beautiful and greater than any of her peers,what a tremendous woman and singer and song writer.God Bless you Kristy for all your music.

[@barryhossin2000]

Beautiful voice from a Beautiful soul.

[@daveinprogress3]

thank you so much for sharing this. It was compelling from start to finish.

[@robinwilson1433]

I am delighted to have seen this - thank you so much. I always loved what little I knew of Kirsty's music, but this has given me a much broader interest in and understanding of her music. RIP

[@joechiro]

Always lovingly indebted Kirsty

[@margaretdooley2742]

Kirsty was a lovely singer

[@HTJB60]

I alway's find it strange when it's mentioned that an Artist is "Under Apreciated" etc. I seem to alway's like "Under Apreciated" {Not very commercial} Artist's. I'm 74 and had never seen any of her video's, until a few year's back {on youtube} and my favourite song by her is "El Paso" as it's so funny in places. I like LISTENING to Album's, rather than song's & her Album's are alway's a delight from start to end. I really enjoyed watching this Documentry. Never knew she was on the Talking Head's LP, must go and have a listen.... A great fan of Talking head's....

[@malcolmf1381]

We were visiting relatives in Scotland for xmas when we heard the sad news of her death. I had to go to HMV in Dundee the next day and in front of the shop was a young woman playing Fairytale of New York on a saxophone. I'll never forget that.

[@claredelamer7940]

o it was a tragedy, kirsty was + still is a true star, so magical.

[@paoloangaroni1907]

Never question Humanity, Love, Kindness, Compassion, Gratitude & insane Bravery.. they are all bolt together into each and everyone of us and will always remain.

[@zoli416]

Nagyon köszi a feltöltést! Hogy-hogy nem láttam eddig...

[@Cristiano48239]

OMG the power of Eddie Reader singing Dear John.

[@davidsmith-jj4iq]

beyond heartbreaking

[@rayman760]

Thank you for this, one of my true idols. Is it really 20 years next month? 20 years later and your legacy is still living on and inspiring many, a true hero and a lovely, good person. Your music still touches my soul, it never grows old.

[@brendamckane4154]

I agree with you Andy Brillant singer R I P Kirsty

[@noragarza8628]

Lovely Lady!

[@svobodasimon1185]

legendary performance. i listen to the Pogues since am a kid and am 48 now. this is one of those bands which songs

[@litefoot900]

A genuine talent. Sadly missed R.I.P

[@carolcoates3750]

Love you Kirsty xxxx

[@drinkwater319]

That beautiful bit of choral harmonies in New England she did herself, it’s not in the original song, it’s the best part of it, that last high note before coming back into a verse, absolutely marvellous

[@andrealoehry8835]

Just part of being human is constantly asking why we are here, a lot of people will make a lot of money which they feel gives a sort of substance to their “being”, the majority of us will just live our little lives out quite happily, a few of us will make a mark on this world, be it art, literature, music or anything else I can’t think of right now! Kirsty left words and music, she was a background to my growing up, her death was dreadful and so early in her promising life, l remember vividly hearing the news and my heart goes out to her boys, although it’s very different circumstances my son drowned in Thailand when he was 23, the grief, the pain, the dreadfulness never leaves you,we just learn to live with it,. Thank you Kirsty for being amazing xxxxxx

[@irh1738]

Absolute legend. RIP so sad the way she was killed and those bastards were not brought to proper justice. Thank you for everything and for my favourite the FONY.

[@davidtunnicliff5442]

;they dont know ;is one of my all time favourite songs.

[@eiremike1]

Excellent, thank you BBC

[@AlisongsLA]

Though not a fan of U2's music, I'm such a fan of the members of the band and the fact that they are suc'h good people and do good things. Thank you, Bono, for paying tribute to such a remarkable talent. Bless you! xo

[@Rams75]

Bono could start by paying taxes in Ireland. The fkn hypocrite

[@boogieboy612]

A beautiful woman,amazing talent and a gorgeous genuine soul.

[@peterc.walker]

This is wonderful 🧡

[@shaunthehumble4377]

Gone but not forgotten rip 2021

[@KooTan4126]

Kirsty, I love you forever!

[@bluehorizon9613]

Just Brilliant !

[@stevemccart9109]

So pretty ,so talented ,so tragic

[@einsteinzvice517]

#WednesdayWisdom #Untimely⚱️ #LYRXLUVR🎛️ #My1970sDreamSequence🎵 #KirstyMacColl🎶 #MyRetroThrowbackLife🎶 She GAVE her life to SAVE her SON; there's nothing to add to such a monumental memorial. 😥

[@joycegeertsma7115]

Kirsty was her own person. Down to earth. What a gem; what a loss.. I think a movie should be made about her life, it would be a great tribute. Also love Cerys Matthews' version of "15 minutes".

[@GreenCanvasInteriorscape]

First heard her on kfai in mpls in 84, New England was recorded on my cassette along with so many other gems heard late night... Rip beautiful talented Kirsty...

[@logicalnetwork1611]

Watchning this makes me so sad. Kirsty death was heartbreaking :)

[@adelaney537]

She is and was just wonderful....Terrible tragedy and a freak accident that took such a talent away and not her own hands she does not get the recognition she deserves. I hope she is at peace she was before her time...

[@mrbambista2559]

A Delaney it was murder

[@angelaparlane7442]

She protected her son and died herself when a speed boat was driven into a restricted area ie an area that was supposed to be safe for divers without risk of any boats, she was struck in the chest...nothing freak about it other than her family were supposed to be safe

[@irh1738]

Exactly it was murder and they got away with it.

[@angelaparlane7442]

Was not a freak accident, someone ran her over with their jet boat in an area that was supposed to be safe national park, ran her over and couldve run her kids over as well

[@thegoldenapprentice2669]

R.I.P Kirsty Maccoll 😢

[@MrRayzer1]

A lovely tribute, will love her song's as long as i live. Rest in peace, with the angels, Kirsty :)

[@Tacomadome24]

R.I.P. beautiful soul. beautiful talent.

[@E-Kat]

Barbra Streisand suffered from stage fright too and it had made her forget the words of her song. She stopped singing on the stage for 30 years!! Looking at them, one would never be able to tell what they're going through. The song at 16:00 is very different to everything else she sang. It must be difficult to perform. Very beautiful arrangement indeed. ❤

[@roslynnmemme8634]

What a way to go!! So disturbing to me. I heard one of her songs that resonated immediately with me. Ah yesss I remember that song 😊

[@seamusmalarkey759]

Kirsty's passing hit me hard at the time

[@jehugo66]

She came along before America could appreciate her sufficiently. She's still winning new fans though-I'm one. Her lyrics and musical styles evoke a female brand of Morrissey-esque feelings that a woman may have with life's struggle..

[@evelynconroy4821]

KnoxTN Yankee fans

[@briday9107]

Love you!

[@MagaretShailes]

Kirsty was her own person loved her and her music

[@jackieeick]

Brilliant

[@tuesdaydelaney4480]

Kirsty was a Beautiful talented young Woman taken to soon to be an Angel

[@douglasholt8353]

18 Dec 2000 R.I.P

[@denisespencer6550]

It's 23 years since Kirsty died and it still feels like yesterday. She had her whole life ahead of her.. She would have married James Knight

[@AndytheChav]

Blessed be x