The Wire creator says 'magnificent' Shane MacGowan 'scared the hell' out of him during awkward encounter

The Wire creator David Simon has revealed a hilarious but awkward encounter that he had with The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, who has died aged 65.

One of the Pogues's best-known songs 'The Body of an American' is frequently used throughout The Wire, specifically whenever a character has died, with the song being played in a cop bar as their colleagues celebrate their life.

Simon is clearly a huge fan of MacGowan and the Pogues and in a touching tribute shared on Twitter/X, the writer revealed that he has been working on a musical based on the band's songs (which was on its fifteenth draft) and that he had only met MacGowan twice during his life.

One of those encounters happened to be at the 9:30 club in Washington DC where Simon said he was "being eyed warily" by MacGowan himself, adding the singer was "eyef**king me like an enemy."

After the show, Simon said he finally plucked up the courage to speak to MacGowan who he said 'shrugged' after he thanked him for allowing 'Body of an American' to be used in The Wire.

Simon goes on to say that he told him: ""And can I also say it's an honor to meet one of the greatest songsmiths and storytellers of our time..."

He continues: "I believe I gibbered a few more sentences of hagiography before he gave me a look of what I took to be certain disgust. Seriously, the man scared the hell out of me. Finally, he leaned into my face. "Da Rockin' Roll Da Dubbing." Excuse me? I asked him to repeat himself....

"'Da Roggin Roll Da Dubbing.' S**t. I couldn't make that out. I thought about nodding sagely, but then imagined myself being called out on it and beaten savagely with a Powers bottle.

"'I'm sorry. One more time on that.' He rolled his eyes and enunciated with a certain exaggerated and forced sobriety. "The Rocky Road To Dublin," he said. I finally realized. 'The Rocky Road to Dublin" I repeated proudly. 'Oh yes.' 'Now that's a f**king song,' he said, smiling just enough so that I could breathe. 'And nobody knows who fecking wrote it.' And then he hissed his magnificent laugh at me, shook my hand and went to get another drink."

Simon concluded his anecdote by vowing to write another draft of the musical as he "owes" it to MacGowan.

It's just one of numerous tributes that have been paid to MacGowan since his death from across the world of music, entertainment and Irish politics.

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