Song · The Pogues
“A Pair Of Brown Eyes” by The Pogues
From the album Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985)
“A Pair Of Brown Eyes” by The Pogues appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1985 and 2023. It was first released in 1985 on the album Rum Sodomy & the Lash. Its best result is #20 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #94 alternative song of 1985.
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"A Pair of Brown Eyes" came out as a single on March 18, 1985, went onto Rum Sodomy & the Lash, the Pogues' second album, and became the band's first single to crack the UK Top 100, stalling at number 72. Front man Shane MacGowan wrote it, and it's a hard, unblinking look at the First World War through the eyes of a drunken veteran, set to a slow waltz whose melody leans loosely on "Wild Mountain Thyme", the Francis McPeake song also known as "Will Ye Go Lassie Go".
Elvis Costello produced it and added mandolin, with Nick Robbins and Paul Scully engineering, and critics have heard accordion, banjo and uilleann pipes tumbling around MacGowan's battered, tender voice. Folk and punk, drinking from the same glass.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 20 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985 | 50 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 666 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
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